"Many parents are concerned that our K-12 educational system is falling short.
We believe that information technology has a huge potential contribution to make
to this problem. While sophisticated computer tools have been introduced with
enormous success in other areas, in education their application is spotty and
erratic, and fails to use the best technology.
"We hope that ISI can make the kind of contribution in this area that it has
in communication, defense, robotics, language translation and computer hardware
and software. I believe there is no higher priority, and I think Carole is the
right person to guide our involvement."
Beal directs ISI's new Learning and Development Center, which focuses on fundamental
research on learning and the use of technology to improve learning outcomes in
K-12 classrooms. Beal's work is closely tied to the ISI Center for Advanced Research
in Technology for Education, which is nationally known for its work using artificial
intelligence for educational ends.
Previously, ISI focused on training techniques for the military and health professions.
"But the techniques have come of age and we believe the potential for K-12 education
is exceptional," says W. Lewis Johnson, the director of CARTE and Beal's collaborator
on many of the projects.
The four new projects provide individualized web-based tutoring in math and science
for K-12 students, with a special focus on improving the representation of girls
and students from groups that have traditionally been under-represented in science
and technology. The projects include:
The Wayang Outpost project, ($1.4 million) supported by the National Science
Foundation's Research on Learning and Education (ROLE) program uses on-line assessments
of high school students' individual learning styles and attention to customize
multimedia instruction in geometry.
Another National Science Foundation award ($485,000 from the Gender in Science
and Engineering program) focuses on creating software to support the learning
options that are more often preferred by female students, including on-line collaboration
on math problem solving through chat and text messaging features.
A third effort, the $1.22 million "Dynamically Modifying The Learning Trajectories
Of Novices With Pedagogical Agents," study is funded by the Institute of Education
Sciences (the new research office of the U. S. Department of Education). In collaboration
with ISI's CARTE and UCLA's IMMEX Center, the project will use artificial intelligence
to tailor high school chemistry material to students by continuously assessing
skills and concentrating on areas that most need help.
Previous work by IMMEX-UCLA researcher Ron Stevens indicates that students all
too often cling to inefficient ways to solve problems. The new collaboration with
ISI will use AI agents as an efficient tool to help students shift to more effective
problem solving strategies.
The fourth project ("AnimalWatch", $1.5 million) is also supported by the Institute
of Education Sciences, and focuses on individualized web-based tutoring to support
students at the difficult transition from arithmetic to algebra. Students work
on math problems about endangered species, and take part in "virtual adventures"
led by animated characters based on real scientists who use mathematics in their
research.
In each project, the tutoring software is aligned with California curriculum
standards for mathematics and sciences, and includes practice tests to help students
prepare for annual state achievement tests.
The projects will collaborate with several local school districts, including
Pasadena, and Placentia-Yorba Linda. "We also hope to work with USC's Family of
Schools," said Beal, referring to a group of LA Unified School District schools
located near USC's University Park and Health Science campuses that have a close
collaborative relation in many areas with USC.
"In fact, we are actively seeking California schools to partner with us on the
new projects," said Beal.
In addition to the projects on the use of technology to improve K-12 learning,
Beal also investigates how the characteristics of human learning can be modeled
to improve machine learning.
In collaboration with Senior Post-doctoral Fellow Clayton Morrison, Beal directs
the $584,000 DARPA funded "Human-like Learning" project that models the kind of
non-verbal, spatial thinking humans do when they visualize problems and discover
new solutions.
Beal came to ISI after 20 years at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst,
where she was a professor of psychology. "Being at ISI is a great opportunity
to work with world class computer science faculty and graduate students in creating
technology to support K-12 educators, students, and families."