The importance of letter sound knowledge (LSK) as a precursor to later literacy skills has been well-documented. Since English language learners (ELLs), or students who first acquired a language other than English, continue to underperform in reading compared to their English-speaking peers, they are particularly at-risk for reading and academic…

This study attempted to determine the influence of prior knowledge in mathematics of students on learner-interface interactions in a learning-by-teaching intelligent tutoring system. One hundred thirty-nine high school students answered a pretest (i.e., the prior knowledge in mathematics) and a posttest. In between the pretest and posttest, they…

Given that many schools have limited resources and a high proportion of students who present with deficits in early literacy skills, supports aimed at preventing reading failure must be simple and efficient and generate meaningful changes in student learning. We used a randomized group design with a wait-list control to extend the work of Volpe,…

Short, cause-and-effect instructional multimedia tutorials that provide learner control of instructional pace (segmentation) and verbal representations of content in a conversational tone (personalization) have been demonstrated to benefit problem solving transfer. How might a more comprehensive multimedia instructional environment focused on…

This study evaluated the relative effects of Tier II computer-assisted tutoring in small groups (Team Alphie) and one-to-one tutoring provided to struggling readers in 33 high-poverty Success for All (SFA) schools. In this year-long study, struggling readers in the Team Alphie schools were tutored in groups of 6. In the control schools, students…

It is often assumed that engaging in a one-on-one dialogue with a tutor is more effective than listening to a lecture or reading a text. Although earlier experiments have not always supported this hypothesis, this may be due in part to allowing the tutors to cover different content than the noninteractive instruction. In 7 experiments, we tested…

Interpreting information regarding health risks, crime statistics, and government polls requires some ability to use and interpret probabilities. Studies have shown that even after training or coursework in probability and statistics, people still have many difficulties solving probability problems. The thesis of this document is that helping…

This paper describes a tutorial lesson to give teachers a model against which to compare and contrast a variety of instances of such lessons, and to help them to eventually come to a personal position on what constitutes a tutorial computer lesson. Three flow charts are provided as examples of tutorial style episodes. This resource for preservice…

A generative computer-assisted instruction system is being developed to tutor students in analytical geometry. The basis of this development is the thesis that a generative teaching system can be developed by establishing and then stimulating a simplified, explicit model of the human tutor. The goal attempted is that of a computer environment…

This research examined the impact of formative quizzes on e-learning designed to teach volunteers how to tutor struggling readers. Three research questions were addressed: (1) Do embedded quizzes facilitate learning of e-content? (2) Does the announcement of upcoming quizzes affect learning? (3) Does prior knowledge interact with quizzing and…

A human tutor must have a plan of instruction, but be able to deviate from the plan when the student behavior calls for changes. This paper presents observations of human tutors and describes the FLOW tutor system, a computer-based simulation of a human tutor that is capable of giving advice to a student learning a simple computer language. The…

The complementary, but distinct, approaches of computer assisted instruction (CAI) and intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) are first summarized, then followed by a collection of papers discussing shared issues toward which these complementary approaches are directed. The purpose of this book is to foster a mutual understanding of shared issues and…

Reviews some representative literature in man/machine tutorial systems. Student-to-student tutoring, tutoring by proctor, tutoring in programed instruction and with teaching machines, auto/audio/video tutoring, and tutoring with computers are discussed. (RAO)

Intelligent computer assisted instruction (CAI) systems are exemplified by several tutorial systems including Tutor-SCHOLAR, Map-SCHOLAR, NLS-SCHOLAR and SOPHIE. The original SCHOLAR program structure made it possible to model the way human tutors interact with students. Further analyses of tutoring and teaching strategies led to the development…

The use of student proctors or tutors for a Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) has been considered essential; however, the cost of tutorial training programs may be prohibitive. In an attempt to develop an equivalent but less expensive alternative, students (N=219) participated in an evaluation of the use of a VAX computer system as a…