Guiding Cognitive Development¿An Expert System Approach

In our increasingly complex society, everyday decision making requires a basic understanding of technology. To improve the science competency of American Students, educators have suggested that science and math curricula focus more on problem-solving and less on memorizing facts. We proposed to develop an expert system shell to be used to teach scientific problem-solving and other learning skills to elementary school students. Our prototype will include a customized user-interface, three self-contained science knowledge bases, teacher tutorial and documentation, and standard expert system components. Computer-assisted instruction has been shown to especially benefit at-risk and (disadvantaged students by individualizing the rate of learning, decreasing barriers to risk-taking, and providing consistent and frequent feedback. Our prototype system provides the additional benefit of developing higher order thinking Sims in students during the creation of a scientific expert system.