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<h4>My New Scientist</h4>
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<p><br><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528765.700-the-intelligent-textbook-that-helps-students-learn.html"></a>
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The 'intelligent textbook' that helps students learn
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01 August 2012
by
<a href="http://www.newscientist.com/search?rbauthors=Michael+Reilly"><b>Michael Reilly</b></a>
</li><li>Magazine issue <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/issue/2876">2876</a>. <a href="http://subscribe.newscientist.com/bundles.aspx?promcode=6005&term=1Y&intcmp=SUBS-nsarttop"><b>Subscribe and save</b></a></li>
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<p><i>Want to know more about your subject? Type in your own question
and artificially intelligent software will construct a new page to
answer your query</i></p>
<p class="infuse">SITTING down with the Inquire system
is, at first, a lot like trying to cosy up to an intimidatingly dense
biology textbook. Sure, its presentation on the iPad is slick, but that
can't hide the fact that you are in for a tough old read.</p>
<p class="infuse">That is until you highlight the first
bit of particularly impenetrable text. Suddenly a list of questions pops
up in the right-hand margin. Touch one and you are whisked away to a
Wikipedia-like page full of information specific to the concept you are
stuck on. Terms like "chloroplast" and "plasma membrane" are succinctly
defined, and the page explains how each concept fits into the wider
field of biology.</p>
<p class="infuse">Want to know more? Type in your own
question and artificially intelligent software will construct a new page
to answer your query.</p>
<p class="infuse">The aim of <a href="http://inquireproject.com/" target="nsarticle">Inquire</a> is to provide students with the world's first intelligent textbook, says its creator David Gunning of Seattle-based <a href="http://www.vulcan.com/TemplateCompany.aspx?contentId=54" target="nsarticle">Vulcan</a>. At first glance, the system just looks like an electronic version of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Campbell-Biology-Edition-Jane-Reece/dp/0321558235" target="nsarticle"><i>Campbell Biology</i></a>,
the tome that forms the bedrock of biology classes for first-year
university and advanced high school students in the US. But behind the
scenes is a machine-readable concept map of the 5000 or so ideas covered
in the book, along with information on how they are all related.</p>
<p class="infuse">When a student asks a question - "what
does a protein do?", for instance - the system first converts it into a
more structured query, such as "what is the function of a protein?",
and then uses this to search and find results from the concept map.</p>
<p class="infuse">Earlier this year, the team recruited 72 first-year students from <a href="http://www.deanza.edu/" target="nsarticle">De Anza College</a>
in Cupertino, California, to put the system to the test. Students were
given either the full Inquire system, the Inquire system with the query
function switched off, or a paper copy of <i>Campbell Biology</i>. They
were then asked to spend 60 minutes reading a section of the book, 90
minutes on homework problems, and to take a 20-minute-long quiz.</p>
<p class="infuse">Students who used the full Inquire
system scored a grade better on the quiz, on average, than the other
groups. "When we did our assessment, we didn't see any Ds or Fs, which
we did see in the control groups," says Debbie Frazier, a high school
biology teacher who works on the project. "Our students could use
Inquire as a tool and ask it questions that they might be embarrassed to
ask a teacher in person because it makes them feel stupid."</p>
<p class="infuse">A video on the work was presented at the <a href="http://www.aaai.org/Conferences/AAAI/aaai12.php" target="nsarticle">Conference on Artificial Intelligence</a> in Toronto, Canada, last week.</p>
<p class="infuse">While such results are promising,
perhaps it's a little soon to crown Inquire the future of textbooks. For
starters, after two years of work the system is still only
half-finished. The team plan to encode the rest of the 1400-page <i>Campbell Biology</i>
by the end of 2013, but they expect a team of 18 biologists will be
needed to do so. This raises concerns about whether the project could be
expanded to cover other areas of science, let alone other subjects.</p>
<p class="infuse">Still, adhering to the textbook format
makes sense because it means students won't have to wade through reams
of irrelevant information, as they do when searching the web, says <a href="http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Users/bend/cv/frameshomepage.html" target="nsarticle">Benedict du Boulay</a> of the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK.</p>
<p class="infuse">Such habits are common, says Inquire team member <a href="http://www.ai.sri.com/people/overholt/" target="nsarticle">Adam Overholtzer</a>,
of SRI International in Menlo Park, California. "I'm not going to name
names, but all of the students go to Wikipedia to study," he says. "It's
open while they are reading their books."</p>
<div class="artbx bxbg">
<h3 id="bx287657B1">Rise of the markerbots</h3>
<p>Engineering students are often asked to sketch
structures to show they understand certain concepts. Grading such
sketches can be overwhelming for tutors, who may preside over 1000
students on a course. So Stephanie Valentine of Texas A&M University
and her team have developed <a href="http://srlweb.cse.tamu.edu/srlng/research/project/18" target="nsarticle">Mechanix</a>,
artificially intelligent software that grades sketches. First, the
tutor draws the correct answer into the system, which recognises the
image and the maths behind it. This is then compared to students'
responses. An intelligent tutor also gives students guidance as they
draw. In tests on 122 students at Texas A&M, those who used Mechanix
performed 15 per cent better on an assignment.</p>
</div><br clear="all"></div></div></div><br>-- <br>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<br><a href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com" target="_blank">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</a><br><br><img src="http://users.moscow.com/waf/WP%20Fox%2001.jpg"><br>
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