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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STOTTLER HENKE RECEIVES NIH GRANT TO DEVELOP NUTRITION EDUCATION SOFTWARE FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
Innovative “intelligent tutoring system” will offer simulation-based learning
experience based on Columbia University’s Linking Food & Environment
curriculum
SAN MATEO, California, Oct. 6, 2004 –
Stottler Henke Associates, Inc. (www.stottlerhenke.com)
has received a $100,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a
prototype for a simulation-based “intelligent tutoring system” (ITS) that teaches elementary and
middle school students about the linkages between food, diet, health and the environment. The
system, called LifeSim, is being built around the LiFE (Linking Food & Environment) curriculum
developed at Columbia University Teachers College, as part of the educational response to an
array of pervasive, diet-related health problems, including child and adult obesity and diabetes.
More than 18 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, which for many leads to serious
complications, other illnesses and even death. These problems are growing especially rapidly
among children and young adults, and the Centers for Disease Control estimate that one in
three U.S. children born in 2000 will become diabetic unless our diets and exercise habits
improve.
“Stottler Henke is proud to be invited to play a role in advancing this critical health education
agenda,” Richard Stottler, president of Stottler Henke Associates, said. “The LifeSim project is
an opportunity to apply our expertise designing ‘smart’ software-based training systems to help
kids make better choices about what they eat, and to help them understand the science behind
food production, processing and consumption.”
Over the past 15 years, Stottler Henke, a software development and consulting firm that
specializes in artificial intelligence (AI)-based work, has developed many ITSs for numerous
government and commercial clients, including systems for teaching remedial reading skills,
algebra and Earth science to high school students. Stottler Henke ITSs are scenario-based
training systems that let students assess situations, generate solutions, make decisions, and
carry out actions in realistically complex situations. By presenting a wide range of realistic
situations, ITSs help students gain knowledge, hone their skills and apply them in practical
ways. The result is students better equipped to solve real-world problems and, in the case of
LifeSim, make better life decisions.
LifeSim will be based on the paradigm of role-playing simulation used in such popular computer
games as SimCity and The Sims. Students using the software will have the goal of improving
the nutrition and overall health of people in a simulated town as well as the environmental health
of the town. Students will make decisions about diet, about which foods are produced and how,
and are able to explore the health and environmental impact of those decisions.
"By enabling students to apply their knowledge and to practice making healthful food choices in
realistic situations, simulation-based instructional software can teach students skills that may
improve how they eat now and into the future," said Pamela A. Koch, EdD, RD, Project
Coordinator, LiFE Curriculum at Columbia University.
In addition, LifeSim will provide explicit coaching in applying scientific methods for investigation.
From a technology perspective, it will complement simulation-based learning with two other
artificial intelligence based methodologies - the use of lifelike pedagogical agents, and the use
of case-based reasoning.
The grant to develop the LifeSim prototype is a Phase I SBIR funded by the NIH National
Center for Research Resources in Bethesda, Maryland. If the prototype is successful, Stottler
Henke expects to seek additional funding to build an operational system.
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.
Stottler Henke was named one of the "top 100" companies making a
significant impact on the military training industry in 2003 by Military Training Technology magazine.
Web: http://www.stottlerhenke.com.
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