Motivations for a Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT) for Authoring, Instruction and Analysis

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) have been shown to be effective tools for one-to-one tutoring in a variety of well-defined domains (e.g., mathematics, physics) and offer distinct advantages over traditional classroom teaching/training. In examining the barriers to the widespread use of ITS, the time and cost for designing and author-ing ITS have been widely cited as the primary obstacles. Contributing factors to time and cost include a lack of standards and minimal opportunities for reuse. This paper explores motivations for the development of a Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT). GIFT was conceived to meet challenges to: author ITS and ITS components, offer best instructional practices across a variety of training tasks (e.g., cognitive, affective, and psychomotor), and provide a testbed for analyzing the effect of tutoring technologies (tools and methods).