Transfer Effects of Semantic Networks on Expert Systems: Mindtools at Work

Semantic networks and expert systems can support learning and critical thinking as Mindtools. Mindtools are computer-based tools that function as intellectual partners with the learner in order to engage and facilitate critical thinking and higher-order learning. Semantic networks and expert systems...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of educational computing research 2002-01, Vol.26 (1), p.1-23
Main Authors: Marra, Rose M., Jonassen, David H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computer Assisted Instruction
Expert Systems
Higher Education
Knowledge Bases
Knowledge Representation
Semantic Networks
Undergraduate Students
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Semantic networks and expert systems can support learning and critical thinking as Mindtools. Mindtools are computer-based tools that function as intellectual partners with the learner in order to engage and facilitate critical thinking and higher-order learning. Semantic networks and expert systems in particular are cognitive reflection tools that help learners to build a representation of what they know by designing their own knowledge bases. Semantic networks have been used as a knowledge elicitation tool for expert system construction; however, the effects of using these tools together has never been formally studied. This study examined the effects of building semantic networks on the coherence and utility of expert systems subsequently constructed. Subjects who constructed semantic networks first produced expert systems with significantly more rules and rule types than a control group. The task's intentional ambiguity and the differences in thinking necessary for semantic network and expert system construction may have affected the non-significance of other expert system complexity variables.
ISSN:0735-6331
1541-4140
DOI:10.2190/WMLN-N7JC-21PA-47TH