Utilizing concept mapping in intelligent tutoring systems

Concept mapping is a tool used in many classrooms and highly researched in the field of education. However, there are fewer concept mapping studies in the field of artificial intelligence in education, specifically within intelligent tutoring systems. Two studies highlight the important roles that concept maps and other non-linear organizers play in learning. Concept maps provide students with a macrostructure view of the information as well as allow students to easily see relationships between concepts. Students generating material for a concept map has shown high learning gains; however, students creating maps from scratch or students being provided a completed map has not seen such positive effects. The proposed study looks at the importance of the links, or relationships between concepts, within concept maps. We plan to provide students with partially filled in concept maps as note-taking devices to investigate how much and what kind of assistance or scaffolding is needed. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg