As intelligent tutoring system (ITS) issues are investigated and intelligent tutoring systems are developed, evaluation methodology becomes important. Basic researchers, system developers, and educators working with ITS all have motives for becoming involved in ITS evaluation. In formative evaluation, researchers examine a system under development, to identify problems and guide modifications. By contrast, summative evaluation is carried out to support formal claims about the construction, behaviour of, or outcomes associated with a completed system. Different methodologies are suitable for different types of evaluation, some focusing on internal considerations, such as architecture and behaviour, others on external considerations, such as educational impact. This paper draws upon the areas of intelligent tutoring systems research, expert systems design, computer-based instruction, education, and psychology to identify techniques for the formative and summative evaluation of ITS. Evalu...

Because narrative plays such a central role in cognition and culture, narrative-centered curricula have been the subject of increasing attention. By taking advantage of the inherent structure of narrative, narrative-centered learning environments could provide engaging worlds in which students are actively involved in motivating storybuilding activities. The fundamental hypothesis of this research program is that by enabling learners to be co-constructors of narratives, narrative-centered learning environments can promote the deep, connection-building meaning-making activities that define constructivist learning. We outline the features of narrative that support constructivist learning, explore the key issues in introducing narrative into learning environments, consider how these environments can support one particular subject matter, literacy education, and sketch the research agenda required to make narrative-centered learning environments a reality.

From Ebbinghaus onward psychology has seen an enormous amount of research invested in the study of learning and memory. This research has produced a steady stream of results and, with a few "mini-revolutions " along the way, a steady increase in our understanding of how knowledge is acquired, retained, retrieved, and utilized. Throughout this history there has been a concern with the relationship of this research to its obvious application to education. The first author has written two textbooks (Anderson, 1995a, 1995b) summarizing some of this research. In both textbooks he has made efforts to identify the implications of this research for education. However, he left both textbooks feeling very dissatisfied-- that the intricacy of research and theory on the psychological side was not showing through in the intricacy of educational application. One finds in psychology many claims of relevance of cognitive psychology research for education. However, these claims are loose and vague and contrast sharply with the crisp theory and results that exist in the field. To be able to rigorously understand what the implications are of cognitive psychology research one needs a rigorous theory that bridges the gap between the detail of the laboratory experiment and the scale of the educational enterprise. This chapter is based on the ACT-R theory

Abstract. The growing emphasis on learner-centered education focuses on intrinsically motivated learning via engaging problem-solving activities. Habitable 3D learning environments, in which learners guide avatars through virtual worlds for role-based problem solving, hold great promise for situated learning. We have been investigating habitable learning environments by iteratively designing, implementing, and evaluating them. In the Situated Avatar-Based Immersive Learning (SAIL) framework for habitable 3D learning environments, learners navigate avatars through virtual worlds as they solve problems by manipulating artifacts. The SAIL framework has been used to implement CPU CITY, a 3D learning environment testbed for the domain of computer architecture. A visually compelling virtual cityscape of computer components, CPU CITY presents learners with goal advertisements that focus their attention on salient problem-solving sub-tasks. The CPU CITY testbed has produced prototypes that have been evaluated. Pilot studies suggest that habitable learning environments offer a promising new paradigm for educational applications. 1

from 13 institutions, all of whom had received National Science Foundation funding for biology education. Topics of interest included Introductory Biology, Genetics, Evolution, Ecology, and the Nature of Science. The goal of the meeting was to organize and leverage current efforts to develop concept inventories for each of these topics. These diagnostic tools are inspired by the success of the Force Concept Inventory, developed by the community of physics educators to identify student misconceptions about Newtonian mechanics. By working together, participants hope to lessen the risk that groups might develop competing rather than complementary inventories.

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