LC0c Reviews of Artificial Intelligence and Education ^

     

Extracts from Published Reviews


In Contemporary Psychology (1989).
…one of the major scientific challenges of our time is how to make computers perform more interesting tasks, in education and elsewhere…. For the contributors to this volume, the decision is clear. What we want is computers both as presenting challenging learning environments and as intelligent tutoring systems. The organization of this collection of papers reflects the distinction that is still to be made between these two roles of the computer in education…. It contains excellent chapters, specifically the first five (Lawler; Feurzeig; diSessa; Papert; the Lawlers). I applaud their depth of thinking, their command of the language, and their enthusiasm….
Overall, I think this volume presents a happy start for a series that may well turn out to be the trendsetter and the binding element for the expanding flow of papers and reports in the field of ITS…
Jan J. Elshout
Professor of Cognitive Psychology, University of Amsterdam

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In Educational Technology (1988).
…the editors Lawler and Yazdani do an excellent job of interlinking the different chapters and providing an overall perspective for the reader…. As a whole, the material on computer based Learning Environments builds a persuasive case why information technology, properly used, can enhance rather than impoverish students’ experience of reality….
In summary, Artificial Intelligence and Education is well worth reading. This book makes a significant contribution to understanding the next generation of instructional computing. … Building bridges between artificial intelligence researchers and educational practicioners will be a vital step in actualizing the promise of instructional AI….
Christopher J. Dede
Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies, Harvard

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In Journal of Artifical Intelligence in Education (1989).
…. The editors not only whet our appetites with a glimpse of important work in AI and Education, but successfully weave and present two different approaches to the use of computers in education from the Artificial Intelligence perspective: Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Computer Base Learning Environments….
George A. Marcoulides
Dept of Management Science, California State University, Fullerton

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In Education and Computing (1986).
… the campus of the University of Exeter… [was]… the battle site for a remarkablbe scientific controversy in September 1985, a conference on “artificial intelligence and education.” …Representatives of the LOGO school of thought, who had flown in from the USA, proceeded to launch a massive offensive against the home-based “intelligent tutoring systems: group, which counter-attacked with equal intensity…. The interesting contributions of the conference which ranged from programming environmentsto the question of how to teach artificial intelligence will be published in a book by the organizers of the conference: Lawler and Yazdani….
Guenter Albers
Genetic Artificial Intelligence and Epistemics Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology and Education Science, University of Geneva, Switzerland

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In Education and Computing (1993).
The book is a collection of 12 chapters relevant to those interested in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Education. Though it is in competition with several recent books appealing to the same audience, it has a distinctive character. The first chapter is entertaining. Lawler argues that there is a need to develop simple ‘shared models’ of thinking that can be used in different cultures…. The collection finishes with a discussion between Lawler and Selfridge. This dialogue is certainly fascinating in the scope of the book but, for a final chapter, meanders somewhat…. The common strand throughout is an interest in learning environments, which is currently fashionable. Despite my criticisms, this book has enough of value to make it a good, but not essential, choice for anyone more interested in the ‘Education’ than in the ‘AI’ in ‘AI and Education.’
Paul Brna
Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland

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