A Cognitive Model for the Evaluation and Teaching of Spatial Reasoning in Tutoring Systems

Modeling the cognitive processes of learners is fundamental to build educational software that are autonomous and that can provide highly tailored assistance during learning (Anderson & al, 1995). For this purpose, many student models have been developed. However to the best of the authors’ knowledge there is no model for the evaluation and teaching of spatial reasoning. This work [1, 2] aim to propose a new knowledge representation model for modeling cognitive processes of learners, and to apply the model in a training software for the manipulation of the robotic arm CanadarmII. The model allow the RomanTutor/CanadarmTutor (cf. fig. 1) to automatically evaluate spatial mental representations and reasoning and provide customized assistance.

Fig1. The RomanTutor/CanadarmTutor software

[1] Fournier-Viger, P., Nkambou, R. & Mayers, A. (2007), Evaluating Spatial Knowledge through Problem-Solving in Virtual Learning Environments. Proceedings of the Second European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL 2007), September 17-20, Crete, Greece (to appear).

[2]Fournier-Viger, P., Nkambou, R., Mayers, A. and Dubois, D. (2007), Automatic Evaluation of Spatial Representations for Complex Robotic Arms Manipulations. Proceedings of the 7th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT 2007), July 18-20, Niigata, Japan (to appear).

The RomanTutor is a software program developped by the GDAC and PLANIART research team with the logistic and financial support of the Canadian Space Agency, FQRNT and the NSERC.

Copyright © 2005-2008 Philippe Fournier-Viger. All rights reserved.