Opportunities for intelligent and adaptive behavior in collaborative learning systems is a workshop to be held in conjunction with the Tenth International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS-2010), held on June 14, 2010 at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.)
Updates
- Workshop Proceedings are now available.
- Workshop slides are now available.
Introduction:
Intelligent tutoring systems are generally designed to tailor instruction to the individual student, but this does not mean that ITS-guided learning must necessarily be a solitary activity. A variety of recent systems have demonstrated ways in which an adaptive learning environment can incorporate and benefit from the presence of multiple learners. Similarly, students using computer-supported collaborative learning systems have been shown to benefit from the introduction of adaptive support that targets the collaboration. In this workshop, we invite discussion and seek to explore ways in which the combination of collaborative and intelligent aspects of a system can benefit the learner by creating a more productive learning environment.
Researchers face many challenges when working with collaborative intelligent learning systems. This workshop will be a venue for people to discuss lessons learned about the practical difficulties involved in implementing intelligent support for collaborative learning and evaluating it in a rigorous manner. We encourage participants to share findings and theories on how we can overcome the barriers to developing adaptive support for collaboration in order to achieve results that a traditional ITS may not be able to offer, such as increased motivation and social skills in addition to improved learning outcomes.
One goal of this workshop is for participants to leave with a new set of ideas surrounding techniques to consider (or avoid) when developing adaptive support for collaborative learning. In short, we wish to share knowledge about the unique challenges we face in building collaborative intelligent learning systems. What techniques have we found to be successful (or unsuccessful) in addressing these challenges? Why? And how do we know that these systems are worth all this effort?
Workshop contributors have approached the intersection of collaboration and adaptive support in different ways, such as the use of adaptive domain models to prompt collaborative discussion, the use of software agents to communicate directly with student collaborators in order to support their interactions, and the use of new methods to support asynchronous discussion.
Topics / Themes:
The workshop discussion will be focused on three sub-topics, chosen based on the interests of program committee members and contributing authors. These discussions may address some of the following questions:
Modeling & Assessment
- Which interactions do we want to encourage or discourage in collaborative learning systems?
- How can we assess the effectiveness of student interaction?
- How can a group’s understanding of the domain be modeled, in contrast to an individual’s understanding of the domain?
- What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of supporting problem-solving in a collaborative scenario, in comparison to focusing solely on interaction?
Collaborative Context
- How can we incorporate the context in which the collaboration takes place into the support that an intelligent system provides?
- What roles can/should the computer play in relation to the participating students (e.g. tutor or learning companion)?
- How can we encourage the students in a collaboration to monitor and support their own interactions?
Scale and Sustainability
- Which techniques used in collaborative intelligent learning systems improve with scale? Which do not?
- What practical lessons can we share to expedite the development process for future systems?
- How can we leverage existing architectures (either intelligent or collaborative) in building new systems?
Participation:
We invite participation from all researchers interested in the role that collaboration can play in intelligent tutoring systems, and we encourage participants to share their own experiences and findings. Program Committee members have suggested discussion topics, which will serve as a basis for small group breakouts and large group discussion following the poster/demo session.
Workshop format:
The workshop goal is to foster communication regarding the challenges surrounding the development and evaluation of intelligent collaborative learning systems. Thus, the workshop will emphasize small and large group discussions rather than conference-style presentations. It will consist of three main activities: a poster/demo session, a break-out discussion session regarding the challenges facing the field, and then a larger group discussion sharing insights from the break-outs.
Poster & Demo Session (1 hour)
The workshop will begin with a one hour poster and demo session. At the beginning of the session, all presenters will do a 2 minute firehouse-style presentation of their work, so that workshop participants are made aware of all posters and demos in which they may be interested.
Small Group Breakouts (1 hour)
Next, participants will engage in small group break-out sessions organized around a set of themes drawn from the submitted position papers on the challenges in the field. Within each group, position paper authors will describe their papers, and then groups will discuss potential solutions to the challenges and opportunities for future research and collaboration. Groups will then prepare to present their conclusions to the rest of the workshop participants.
Large Group Discussion (1 hour)
Finally, participants will come back together for a large group discussion. First, one of the position paper authors from each group will present their theme and an overview of their group discussion, and then a second person from the group will present an alternate perspective on key points of interest from the discussion. Each group will field questions from the other groups. We will conclude with a large group discussion of all themes.
Submission information:
You can submit through EasyChair:
http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=itscollaborationworkshop2010
Organized by:
- Ari Bader-Natal (Grockit, Inc.)
- Erin Walker (Carnegie Mellon University)
- Carolyn Penstein Rosé (Carnegie Mellon University)
Program Committee:
- Christa Asterhan (University of Pittsburgh)
- Roger Azevedo (University of Memphis)
- Nilufar Baghaei (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)
- Bob Hausmann (Carnegie Learning Inc.)
- Ulrich Hoppe (University of Duisburg)
- Rose Luckin (University of London)
- Bruce McLaren (DFKI — Saarbrucken/Carnegie Mellon University)
- Helen Pain (University of Edinburgh)
- Nikol Rummel (University of Freiburg)
- Beverly Woolf (University of Massachusetts – Amherst)
Important Dates:
Abstract must be submitted by: April 19, 2010Full submissions due on: April 23, 2010Notification of acceptance: May 18, 2010Camera-ready deadline: May 28, 2010Workshop date: June 14, 2010, 2:00pm – 6:00pm- Thanks for participating!