The United States has historically been the global leader in the field of Intelligent Tutoring Systems, or ways to use computerized artificial intelligence to enhance teaching and learning in contexts ranging from children learning math in school, to soldiers learning highly technical jobs in the US military. The preeminent conference in this field is the ITS conference; at this conference the latest research is presented and practitioners learn the state of the art techniques that allow creation of these important educational technologies.
This proposal would support seven Ph.D. students, selected through a competitive process, to attend the conference, present their work, and receive additional mentoring outside of their dissertation committees. The intellectual merit of the work rests on the studies the graduate students submit to be considered for participation in the early career track of the conference; this work is then enhanced by guidance from world-class mentors who meet with the students in a structured format to improve their research. The broader impact includes the career impact on the seven selected students, especially since promising graduate students whose advisors may not have funding to send them to the conference can still be included, and their work can be showcased and improved. Possible long-term broader impacts include building the field of ITS researchers and improving the quality of tutoring systems, and thus eventually, improving the quality of education.
