Authors:
Nick Green
1
;
Omar AlZoubi
2
;
Mehrdad Alizadeh
1
;
Barbara Di Eugenio
1
;
Davide Fossati
2
and
Rachel Harsley
1
Affiliations:
1
University of Illinois at Chicago, United States
;
2
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Qatar
Keyword(s):
Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Computer Science Education, Linked Lists, Systems Architecture, Teaching Strategies, Worked-out Examples.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Artificial Intelligence and Decision Support Systems
;
Computer-Supported Education
;
e-Learning
;
Enterprise Information Systems
;
Information Technologies Supporting Learning
;
Intelligent Tutoring Systems
;
Learning/Teaching Methodologies and Assessment
;
Mentoring and Tutoring
Abstract:
Computer Science is a difficult subject with many fundamentals to be taught, usually involving a steep learning
curve for many students. It is some of these initial challenges that can turn students away from computer
science. We have been developing a new Intelligent Tutoring System, ChiQat-Tutor, that focuses on tutoring
of Computer Science fundamentals. Here, we outline the system under development, while bringing particular
attention to its architecture and how it attains the primary goals of being easily extensible and providing a
low barrier of entry to the end user. The system is broadly broken down into lessons, teaching strategies,
and utilities, which work together to promote seamless integration of components. We also cover currently
developed components in the form of a case study, as well as detailing our experience of deploying it to an
undergraduate Computer Science classroom, leading to learning gains on par with prior work.