Agent-based cooperative learning: a proof-of-concept experiment

This paper presents an innovative multiagent system to support cooperative learning among students both in the real classrooms and in distance education. The system, called I-MINDS, consists of a group of intelligent agents. A teacher agent monitors the student activities and helps the teacher manage and better adapt to the class. A student agent, on the other hand, interacts with the teacher agent and other student agents to support cooperative learning activities behind-the-scene for a student. Two I-MINDS innovations are (a) agent-federated “buddy group” formation and (b) automated ranking of questions and responses. We have tested our I-MINDS prototype with experiment and control groups to evaluate the impact of I-MINDS in learning. The results are encouraging. Categories and Subject Descriptors Distance Education, Information Systems, Classroom Management General Terms Design, Experimentation Keywords Multiagent Systems, Cooperative Learning

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: SIGCSE
• Authors: Leen-Kiat Soh, Hong Jiang, Charles Ansorge
• Keywords: Cooperative Learning, Education, SIGCSE 2004, Student Agents, Teacher Agent