Effective Instructional Conversations + TuTalk Instruction
Carolyn Penstein Rosé
Language Technologies Institute/
Human-Computer Interaction Institute
Design Principle
Know what problem you are trying to
solve!!
Design Process What problem are you trying to solve?
Formulate analysis scheme
When should you intervene?Use technologies like TagHelper and SIDE to
track interaction and trigger support
What should the intervention be?Technologies like TuTalk can be used to offer
support
What Makes Instructional Conversations Effective
Design Challenge: Collaborative Process Problems Hurt Learning
Interaction Processes
Cognitive Processes
Learning
Problems with theProblems with theProcess reduce Process reduce learninglearning
Collaboration support increases learning by changing interaction
Support Structure
Interaction Processes
Cognitive Processes
Learning
Support structure is Support structure is designed to elicit certaindesigned to elicit certaininteraction processes, so interaction processes, so its success should be its success should be reflected in a differencereflected in a differencein interaction processesin interaction processes
Collaboration support increases learning by changinginteraction
Support Structure
Interaction Processes
Cognitive Processes
Learning
But if the processBut if the processdifficulties are notdifficulties are notthe same betweenthe same betweenstudent populations,student populations,then the support needsthen the support needsto be different too.to be different too.
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Goals of Scripted Collaboration
“The basic goal of scripted cooperation is to increase achievement by having students perform cognitive activities that they might not otherwise do. In addition, scripted cooperation is expected to reduce the incidence of negative group processes because of the size of the cooperating unit and because of the explicit requirement to alternate roles.”
Script Based Collaborative Learning Support
Static support approaches provide structure to offer support for collaboration before it begins
Script based support increases effective argumentation (Weinberger, 2003)
Social Script
What is a Knowledge Construction Dialogue?
Atlas: Knowledge Construction Dialogues
Purpose: test “Ask, Don’t Tell” strategy in an ITS How can we get the most bang for our buck?
How far can we go with finite state dialogue management? (Freedman,2000)
How far can we go with shallow concept grammars? (i.e., Glass, 1999)
Knowledge Construction Dialogues (KCDs) Interactive directed lines of reasoning: analogies, concrete
illustrations KCD Authoring Tool Suite (Jordan, Rosé, and VanLehn, 2001)
55 KCDs fully implemented and pilot tested in 3 months
KCDs versus Minilessons versus Hints
Here are a few things to keep in mind when calculating acceleration for a body at rest. Acceleration is change in velocity over time.
If velocity is not changing, then there is zero acceleration.
Now, if for a finite time interval the velocity remains zero, then it is true that it is not changing.
Therefore, when a body is at rest during a time interval, its acceleration within that time interval is zero.
Tutor: Here are a few things to keep in mind when calculating acceleration for a body at rest. Acceleration is change of what over time?
Student: velocity
Tutor: Right. If the velocity is not changing, what is the magnitude of the acceleration?
Student: zero.
Tutor: Good. If velocity remains zero within a time interval, how much is it changing?
Student: zero
Tutor: Super. So if a body is at rest during a time interval, what is the...
KCDs versus Minilessons versus Hints
Here are a few things to keep in mind when calculating acceleration for a body at rest. Acceleration is change in velocity over time.
If velocity is not changing, then there is zero acceleration.
Now, if for a finite time interval the velocity remains zero, then it is true that it is not changing.
Therefore, when a body is at rest during a time interval, its acceleration within that time interval is zero.
Tutor: Here are a few things to keep in mind when calculating acceleration for a body at rest. Acceleration is change of what over time?
Student: velocity
Tutor: Right. If the velocity is not changing, what is the magnitude of the acceleration?
Student: zero.
Tutor: Good. If velocity remains zero within a time interval, how much is it changing?
Student: zero
Tutor: Super. So if a body is at rest during a time interval, what is the...
What if this answer was wrong?
KCDs versus Minilessons versus Hints
Here are a few things to keep in mind when calculating acceleration for a body at rest. Acceleration is change in velocity over time.
If velocity is not changing, then there is zero acceleration.
Now, if for a finite time interval the velocity remains zero, then it is true that it is not changing.
Therefore, when a body is at rest during a time interval, its acceleration within that time interval is zero.
Tutor: Right. If the velocity is not changing, what is the magnitude of the acceleration?
Student: I don’t know
Tutor: Do you remember what acceleration means?
Student: It’s change in velocity over time
Tutor: Right. So then if velocity is not changing, what is acceleration?
Student: Oh, zero.
Tutor: OK. If velocity remains zero within a time interval, how much is it changing?
…
Design Process Tips
Exploratory Learning Overview
(Charnay & Reder, 1986) compare Worked Examples, Tutorials, Problem Solving, and Pure Exploration Worked examples mixed with problem solving was the best
(Touvinem & Sweller, 1999) Worked examples with problem solving beats Pure exploratory learning
(Klahr & Nigam, to appear) tutorial learning plus problem solving is more efficient than pure exploratory learning
PureExploratoryLearning
WorkedExamples
TutorialLearning
ProblemSolvingGoalsProvided
NegotiableProblemSolvingGoals
OnlyHighLevelGoalsGiven+ hints
PureExploratoryLearning
OnlyHighLevelGoalsGiven+ helprequests
Exploratory Learning Overview
Smithtown work (Shute & Glaser, 1990, etc.) and Computer-Based Simulation Games (Leutner, 1993) involve only imposed high level goals Learning about a model or Survival
(Leutner, 1993) demonstrates the importance of students actively requesting help
Smithtown adapted to individual student needs
PureExploratoryLearning
WorkedExamples
TutorialLearning
ProblemSolvingGoalsProvided
NegotiableProblemSolvingGoals
OnlyHighLevelGoalsGiven+ hints
PureExploratoryLearning
OnlyHighLevelGoalsGiven+ helprequests
Exploratory Learning Overview
The difference between problem solving and exploratory learning is the level at which goals are dictated
Many state-of-the-art tutoring systems fall into the problem solving category where problem solving goals are dictated
In an exploratory design environment, high level goals are dictated (improve efficiency), but problem solving goals (i.e., add a reheat cycle) are negotiated
Tutorial dialogue allows the tutor to influence problem solving goals (addressing cognitive load issues) while offering instruction and while allowing students to actively explore
WorkedExamples
TutorialLearning
ProblemSolvingGoalsProvided
NegotiableProblemSolvingGoals
OnlyHighLevelGoalsGiven+ hints
PureExploratoryLearning
OnlyHighLevelGoalsGiven+ helprequests
Topic Analysis Reveals Important Patterns of Interaction
GeneralConceptualTopics
AnalysisSpecificTopics
Significant correlation between topic coverage and learning
(R2=.715, N=21, p < .05)
Example Implemented Reflection Dialogue Tutor: Let’s stop for a minute and reflect on what we have seen. Having
seen how changing T-Max (i.e., the Maximum Temperature at the Heater Outlet) affects the efficiency of the cycle, do you think it is a good idea in general for the Maximum Temperature to be increased and kept high?
Student: yes Tutor: Okay. Let’s think now about one important consequence of keeping
T-Max high. What happens to the steam quality at the turbine exit if you increase the maximum temperature of the cycle?
Student: Increases Tutor: Right. As increasing the temperature makes the efficiency and
steam quality better, we should increase the maximum temperature of the cycle. But can we keep on increasing the maximum temperature at the heater outlet indefinitely, or are there limitations to keep in mind?
Student: there are limitations such as material constraints Tutor: Great. we should try to keep T-Max (i.e., the maximum temperature
at the Heater outlet of the cycle) as high as possible without risking safety concerns or exceeding the maximum temperature the material can withstand. Keeping T-Max high increases efficiency and keeps the steam quality high, which are both important. This is an important principle to keep in mind while optimizing the efficiency of your cycle.
TuTalk Authoring Process
Scenario
Goal1(Start Goal)
Sub Goal 1.1
Goal1_Step1
Goal1_Step2
Goal1_Step3
Goal1_Step4
Pair
Initiation
Response2
Response1
Response3
Say1 Say2
Scenario/ Script
Goal Template Step/Pair Concept
Getting Started Start by creating a new
script That script will contain all
of the goals, templates, and concepts that you define
Could contain multiple ways of achieving the same goal (via alternative templates)
Directed Lines of Reasoning
Building Blocks: Pairs are composed of an initiation and a response
Tutor: Here are a few things to keep in mind when calculating acceleration for a body at rest. Acceleration is change of what over time?
Student: velocity
Tutor: Right. If the velocity is not changing, what is the magnitude of the acceleration?
Student: zero.
Tutor: Good. If velocity remains zero within a time interval, how much is it changing?
Student: zero
Tutor: Super. So if a body is at rest during a time interval, what is the...
Building a Pair
Adding Phrases to Concepts
Elaborating a Template
Example Pair
Example Pair
Concept Manager
Scenario
Goal1(Start Goal)
Sub Goal 1.1
Goal1_Step1
Goal1_Step2
Goal1_Step3
Goal1_Step4
Pair
Initiation
Response2
Response1
Response3
Say1 Say2
Previewer
Test Interface
Some tips Better to have several short turns than fewer long
turns
Try to build the learner’s/user’s vocabulary (shaping)• It may help you avoid unanticipated responses
Try to think about what is it that we are trying to elicit from the student when writing tutor turns (initiations)
Author as many possible responses as you can in the time available Catch all makes the machine look dumb!
Questions?