Development Of Concept Map Based Adaptive Knowledge Assessment System

The paper describes the developed adaptive system for knowledge assessment and self-assessment based on usage of concept maps. The concept mapping approach offers a reasonable balance between complexity of knowledge assessment system and necessity to assess higher levels of knowledge according to the Bloom's taxonomy. The underlying concepts of the developed system which supports a process oriented learning are discussed. The architecture and functionality of the intelligent knowledge assessment system based on the intelligent agent paradigm is described. The system to the large extent can adapt to each individual learner by changing the degree of task difficulty and providing execution of two kinds of tasks - fill-in tasks and construction tasks of concept maps. Information about two prototypes which have been already implemented and tested in different study courses is given. Nowadays when knowledge society requires high-value workers who produce high-value output, sweeping changes affect the information age education. First, roles of main actors of teaching and learning process have changed. Teachers now should be guides and coaches while passive learners start to turn into active ones. These changes are very strongly promoted by modern information and communication (ICT) technologies which penetrate in education starting from kindergartens and ending with universities and organizations that provide life long education. ICT enables student centered and one-to-one learning in traditional as well as in e- and m-learning settings (Waterhouse 2004). A plethora of technology enhanced learning systems has been already developed and many others are under the development practically all over the world. At the same time, one is unable to deny that even intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) are still behind the desired level of teaching and learning quality. Even the most advanced ITSs provide intelligent support of education process that is far behind of that provided by a human teacher who is able to adapt to each learner individually, to give a flexible feedback such as help, explanation, motivation, generation of individual tasks with different degrees of difficulty, and an assessment. Among all facets of needed feedback, a knowledge assessment plays the central role. It is very important that both players (a teacher and a learner) can keep track of learner's progress. Unfortunately, even in traditional teaching where regular knowledge assessment may be carried out in natural way, due to the high workload of university teachers, in practice they usually apply only final examinations. In e-learning regular knowledge assessment, as a rule, is carried out using tests which allow to assess learners' knowledge only at the first four levels of the well known Bloom's taxonomy which includes three levels of lower order skills: knowledge, comprehension, and application, and three levels of higher order skills: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Bloom 1956). The paper presents the approach in which a systematic knowledge assessment is carried out using the developed adaptive knowledge assessment system based on concept maps. The approach supports both kinds of knowledge assessment, namely, assessment given by a teacher, and self-assessment of learners. Knowledge self-assessment opportunities allow a learner to keep track of his/her progress, and to give a teacher feasibility to inform a learner about expected progress and to adjust a learning process making it more individualized.