Development and evaluation of an Intelligent Tutoring System for supporting students in setting up chemical equations

A considerable number of students encounter difficulties when attempting to solve chemical equations, especially redox reactions. Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) have been developed for the purpose of providing reliable assistance to students in comprehending complex subjects. Here, we present the implementation and preliminary evaluation of an ITS that gives individual support to students when solving chemical equations by identifying students’ mistakes during the solution process and provides tailored feedback in form of analogical worked-out examples. The architecture of the system is inspired by the conventional design of an ITS, incorporating a background knowledge module that encompasses both rules and facts to facilitate equation setup. The system also includes a student module for error identification, a basic interface, and a feedback module that selects structurally analogous worked-out examples. Both a questionnaire and log data were used to evaluate the system, in order to gain insight into students’ performance, as well as their perception of cognitive load and the system’s functionality, usability and attractiveness. Based on the analysis of the logged data, as recorded by the ITS, the matching of students’ input to correct solution steps appear to be effective. With regard to students’ interactions with the system, findings suggest that students experience considerable difficulties in coping with the task demands. The functionality of the system was evaluated as high, although students proposed suggestions for improvement. The system was also found to be usable and attractive. The present study underlines the potential of innovative and interactive teaching methods, integrating technology to support students’ conceptual understanding.