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International Conference on Computer Supported Education

CSEDU 2016: Computers Supported Education pp 159–178Cite as

Minimizing Computing Costs of Policy Trees in a POMDP-based Intelligent Tutoring System

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Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 739))

Abstract

Uncertainties exist in intelligent tutoring. The partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) model may provide useful tools for handling uncertainties. The model may enable an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) to choose optimal actions when uncertainties occur. A major difficulty in applying the POMDP model to intelligent tutoring is its computational complexity. Typically, when a technique of policy trees is used, in making a decision the number of policy trees to evaluate is exponential, and the cost of evaluating a tree is also exponential. To overcome the difficulty, we develop a new technique of policy trees, based on the features of tutoring processes. The technique can minimize the number of policy trees to evaluate in making a decision, and minimize the costs of evaluating individual trees.

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Acknowledgements.

This research is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada

    Fangju Wang

Authors
  1. Fangju Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fangju Wang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy

    Gennaro Costagliola

  2. Ulster University, Belfast, United Kingdom

    James Uhomoibhi

  3. University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Susan Zvacek

  4. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Bruce M. McLaren

Appendix I: Sample Concepts and Descriptions

Appendix I: Sample Concepts and Descriptions

  • A binary digit is 0 or 1.

  • A bit is the smallest unit of information on a computer. It can hold one of the two values of binary digits.

  • A byte consists of eight consecutive bits.

  • Data represents information, stored on a computer as sequences of bytes.

  • A word is a fixed-sized piece of data handled as a unit by the instruction set or the hardware of the processor.

  • A file is a collection of data. It has a name.

  • An instruction is a coded command to the computer to perform a specified function.

  • A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a computer.

  • A machine language is a programming language, in which each instruction is represented as binary digits.

  • An assembly language has the same structure and set of instructions as a machine language, with the instructions represented by names.

  • A high-level language is a programming language independent of any particular type of computer, and is closer to human languages than assembly languages.

  • A query language is a high-level language for querying.

  • A program is a sequence of instructions written in a programming language, for performing a specified task with a computer.

  • An application program is a program developed for performing a specific task directly for the user.

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Wang, F. (2017). Minimizing Computing Costs of Policy Trees in a POMDP-based Intelligent Tutoring System. In: Costagliola, G., Uhomoibhi, J., Zvacek, S., McLaren, B. (eds) Computers Supported Education. CSEDU 2016. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 739. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63184-4_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63184-4_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-63183-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-63184-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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