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Media Contact:
David Domeshek
508.873.7068
Jim Ong
650.931.2710
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AWARDS CONTRACT TO STOTTLER HENKE TO DEVELOP
A SOCRATIC TUTOR FOR BATTLEFIELD COMMAND REASONING SKILLS
Intelligent training software will identify each student's
strengths and weaknesses,
encourage reflection, stimulate thought processes, and enhance
reasoning capabilities
SAN MATEO, CA, Oct. 8, 2001 –– Stottler Henke Associates, Inc. today
announced the award of a two-year $750,000 contract with the U.S. Department
of Defense to develop an intelligent, Socratic tutoring system to teach battlefield
command reasoning skills. This system will apply and extend intelligent
tutoring system technologies and cognitive psychology methods to emulate the
coaching interactions carried out by expert instructors.
Under extreme stress, time pressure, and uncertainty, battlefield commanders
must assess complex, ambiguous tactical situations, prioritize goals, and pursue
these goals by issuing orders, reports, and requests. These reasoning skills
cannot be taught simply as methods and procedures to be followed. Becoming an
expert requires extensive practice of command reasoning skills in a variety
of situations, as well as coaching and feedback from instructors.
However, expert instructors who can provide this type of coaching are scarce,
so few commanders are able to benefit from this type of training. To make this
type of training more widely available, Stottler Henke will develop the Command Mentoring
Intelligent Tutoring System (ComMentor) that will emulate the Socratic teaching
methods used by expert instructors. Specifically, ComMentor will present tactical
scenarios to students and prompt them to enter orders and reports via graphical
user interfaces, free-form text, and tactical maps. In general, there is no
single correct answer to a scenario, so ComMentor will evaluate each student's
solution and reasoning skills by comparing their solutions with many expert
solutions and their rationale. ComMentor will use these assessments, along with
expert solutions and their rationale, to select and execute appropriate instructional
interactions, such as questions, feedback, hints, and facts, that enhance the
student's high-level thinking habits.
"Teaching battlefield command reasoning is extremely difficult because it requires
sophisticated reasoning about a large number of simultaneous goals, potential
plans, variables, and constraints," says Dr. Eric Domeshek, the project manager
and software architect of the system. "By capturing and reasoning about the rationale
behind expert solutions, ComMentor will be capable of sophisticated and highly
effective Socratic dialogs with the student," continues Dr. Domeshek.
Founded in 1988, Stottler Henke Associates, Inc.
applies artificial intelligence and other advanced software technologies
to solve problems that defy solution using traditional approaches.
The company delivers intelligent software solutions for education and training,
planning and scheduling, knowledge management and discovery, decision support,
and software development. Stottler Henke's clients include manufacturers,
retailers, educational media companies and government agencies.
Web: http://www.stottlerhenke.com.
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