A Support System to educate Users according to Each Mastery Level by using the WWW Environment

Abstract

Research has been done on distributing textbooks and lecturing in classrooms by using WWW. Using WWW for education allows a number of network users to easily deliver new teaching materials using pictures and different kinds of animation. It is important for computer-aided education to combine textbooks which cover fundamental and applied contents with easily understandable pictures and simulation programs. Exercises are important to allow users to master textbook contents as well as the textbook described above. However, differences in user ability make it difficult to master the contents: it is painfully difficult for users to solve exercises which are not suitable for their ability. This situation makes users lose their study volition. In the psychology of learning, the advantages of programmed learning for the above problem are well known and documented. Studies have reported on stand-alone computer-aided education support systems that use programmed learning. A network-base education support system must be equipped with a function to instruct different mastery level users as well as stand alone systems. However, past network-base education support systems are lacking in this.
In this paper, the authors propose a new education support system for power engineering. The proposed system has the following characteristics. The system is equipped with a function to select exercises automatically according to the mastery level of each user. Similar exercises are created to modify exercises, which are previously registered in the proposed system. Not only simulation programs but also pictures and different kinds of animation are used to explain the text. This paper also illustrates an example of the proposed system.