Graphical Representation Of Help Knowledge For Intelligent Tutoring Systems

Today an expected facility of interactive computer systems and application programs is an extensive, well-designed, and well-written online help system. A help system frequently provides online tutorial text concerning the operation of the system or application. In the case of intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS), an embedded help system provides help with topics in the training domain. In this environment, the help system not only provides user initiated help, but also help text introduced by the embedded computer expert for the purpose of directing or correcting student actions. Explanatory material contained in help systems is called help documentation, and is usually accessed through a HELP command. Identification of relevant help texts is difficult for a user, and is a special case of the general information retrieval problem. This paper discusses methods for the retrieval of help knowledge items using graphical, on-screen, tree structures. The configuration of these study trees conforms to the hierarchical nature of the tutorial information being referenced. Selection of natural language terms affords initial entry to the trees. A user of the help system browses the trees directly on-screen and consults the subject help texts at will. The study tree presentation facilitates effective selection of pertinent help texts and relates the collection of help material into an integrated whole