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ED 393 425 IR 017 761

AUTHOR Boulet, Marie-MicheleTITLE Intelligent Advisor Systems and Transfer of

Knowledge.PUB DATE 93NOTE 5p.; In: Verbo-Visual Literacy: Understanding and

Applying New Educational Communication MediaTechnologies. Selected Readings from the Symposium ofthe International Visual Literacy Association(Delphi, Greece, June 25-29, 1993); see IR 017742.

PUB TYPE Reports Research/Technical (143)Speeches/Conference Papers (150)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS *Computer Assisted Instruction; Educational

Technology; Foreign Countries; Grade 9; High Schools;*Intelligent Tutoring Systems; Learning Modules;*Music Education; Skill Development

IDENTIFIERS Knowledge Acquisition; *Quebec

ABSTRACTAn intelligent advisor system is an instructional

technology designed to further the transfer of knowledge byintervening when the user of any application software performstransfer tasks. In Quebec (Canada), the teaching of music isregulated by a mandatory curriculum which is divided into sixmodules; the intelligent advisor syttem, MUSIC, relates to thecreation module of the ninth grade. Its purpose is to help a studentwhile he or she uses a musical writing software to compose a melody.The advisor MUSIC performs three tyr,es of instructional transactions:(1) explanations requested by a student; (2) comments on thestudent's composition; and (3) collments on compositions made by theadvisor. Twenty-seven ninth grade students from Quebec high schoolsparticipated in a study to determine if MUSIC favors the transfer ofknowledge. It was found that the transfer of knowledge improved andthat MUSIC does what is impossible for the human teacher of anaverage classperform concurrently fast, individualized, detailed,remedial, and corrective explanations and feedback. (Contains 13references.) (AEF)

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INTELLIGENT ADVISOR SYSTEMSAND TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE

Introduction

byMarie-Michile Boulet

In Quebec, the teaching of music isregulated by the Quebec Ministry ofEducation. That corresponds to amandatory music curriculum (Ministère del'Education, 1981) divided into sixmodules: creation, execution, graphics,musical language, musical literature, andsound environment. This researchconcerns the creation module. The mainobjective of this module is to allow thetransfer of knowledge of the musicallanguage elements. Composing melodiesis the activity proposed by the Ministry ofEducation (Ministère de l'Education,1983). Therefore, in accordance withBurns (1988), the Ministry of Educationconsiders that the creative process not onlysynthesizes previous learning but alsoelevates the mind into a higher stage ofreasoning--the problem solving stage.Moreover, in accordance with Moore(1990), the tasks are conceived as"musical problem solving" within acontext of implicit as well as explicitmusical parameters (an incompletemelody). Figure 1 shows the variety ofexercises proposed to students whichcorrespond to musical compositionactivities proposed in "Musicontact 3," abook approved by the Quebec Ministry ofEducation (Fournier, Milot, Richard,Béchard, & De Melo, 1986).

The Technology

An intelligent advisor system is aninstructional technology especiallydesigned to further the transfer ofknowledge. It is an adaptive system aimedat intervening when the user of anyapplication software performs transfertasks (Boulet, 1992). According toLeshin, Pollock, and Reigeluth (1992),transfer tasks have great variation from

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one performance to another. They cannoteasily be broken down into steps becausethe activity varies each time the task isperformed. To compose a melody is atransfer task.

An intelligent advisor system is atechnology to be used after the initiallearkdng of concepts, principles, and rules.It aims at providing individualized, fast,and detailed explanations and feedbacks.The intelligent advisor system MUSICrelates to the creation module of the grade9 high school. Its purpose is to help astudent while he or she uses a musicalwriting software to compose a melody.

fletr.-tionsi Piano I

Process of compositionOArswer (Q-A)0Augmentation, diminution, repetition()Question - Answer@Quit

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Figure 1. Activities Proposed

The Requirements

Ten years after the implementation ofthe music curriculum, many observed thatthe main objective of the creation modulewas not reached (Boulet, Dufour, &Lavoie, 1992; Fédération des Associationsdes Musiciens Educateurs du Québec,1990). C Ition activities were notindividualized, but group based. Studentsdid not really transfer their ownknowledge of the musical languageelements. Consequently, we decided todevelop the advisor system MUSIC.

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IFunctionsl Piano I

Transfer of Knowledge

The Advisor MUSIC

There are three types ofinstructional transactions:

1. Explanations requested by astudent in regard to musical languageelements.

2. Comments on the student'scomposition.

3. Comments on compositionsmade up by the advisor.

Type I

When students perform exercisesMUSIC can help them by presentingexplanations on prerequisites. The abilityto use the question/answer process ofcomposition being considered, the analysisof the music curriculum, and specializedbooks allowed the identification of 67prerequisites and 29 rules (Boulet, &Dufour, 1991; Boulet, Dufour, & Lavoie,1991a, 1991b).

Functions Pianol

HelpStatement

Playl

Play2Analysis

L3*r *

Figure 2. Functions Menu

For an explanation, the student merelyselects the Help option in the menuFunctions (Figure 2). The explanationrequested is superimposed on the musicalwriting software (Figure 3).

As illustrated in Figure 3, there areunderlined words within each explanation.They represent corresponding pre-requisites. When a student clicks such a

145

word with the mouse, the correspondingexplanation is displayed.

to

(Accidental )It is a sign aiming at elevating orreducing of a semitone the note it isin front of. There are flat, natural ,and sharp.

ci 6 71Figure 3. Explanation

IL

The student can also see an index of allthe explanations available, ask for one ormore melodies related to a particularexplanation, see a map of prerequisites, goback to the previous window, or go to thecurrent composition activity.

Functions I Piano I

Analysis : Answer (Q - A)Your melody being analyzed, I realizethat the answer does not have the samenumber of bars than the question. Thequestion having 4 bars, the answer shouldhave 4 bars.Do you want an example? NO

0 WI II

Figure 4: Commenting on Melody

Type 2

When a composition is completed,MUSIC can analyze it. Figure 4 presentsan example. Here again, underlined wordsgive access to prerequisites.

Type 3

MUSIC can also create a composition.If the student clicks on the "Yes" buttonillustrated in Figure 4, the advisor

146

composes. The advisor can also commenton its own composition. The comment willbe similar to the one displayed to thestudent (Figure 4).

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study was todetermine if the advisor favors the transferof knowledge. Stated in the null form, thefollowing hypothesis was tested:

Hoi. Students exposed to MUSICwill not show any significant improvementwhen transferring the knowledge of themusical language elements.

Procedures

Subjects

The subjects consisted of 27voluntary ninth grade students fromQuebec high schools (at the beginningthere were 29; because of the attrition,only 27 completed the study).

Instruments

The validity and reliability of the testwere established in two pilot studies(Boulet, Simard, Lavoie, & Dufour,1991). 28 ninth grade students participatedin the first. Results are summarized inTable 1. The Spearman Brown and KR20both reached 0.9. We calculated factors ofdifficulty and discrimination and removedeasy or non discriminant items. Wereformulated certain items. The newversion was tested i 51 ninth gradestudents. Results are summarized in Table2. The Spearman Brown reached 0.9 andthe KR20, 0.8. Each item reached asatisfactory level of difficulty and ofdiscrimination.

Results

For the pretest, the mean was29.1%, with a standard deviation of 11.9.Results of the post test are the following:Mean = 66.2%, standard deviation = 14.5.A Two Group Paired t-Test wasperformed to verify the hypothesis: p =

Verbo-Visual Literacy

.00. Because the group realized astatistically significant improvement of thetransfer of knowledge, the hypothesis wasrejected.

Table 1Pilot Studies Results

Mean% Std Spearman-Dev Brown

KR20

1st 58.3 12.6 .9 .9

2nd 28 11 .9 .8

Discussion

Students improved the transfer ofknowledge. We think that this result mustbe interpreted as the effect of theindividualization. As mentioned before,music teachers have some problems withthe creation module. Correspondingactivities are rarely performed.Corresponding activities are notindividualized. The advisor MUSIC eaeswhat is impossible for the human teacherof a class of thirty-three students, i.e., toperform concurrently the following tasks:for each learner's composition to generateadaptive, fast, individualized, detailed,remedial, and corrective explanations andfeedbacks.

We also think that the way weimplemented the advisor MUSIC had aninfluence on the results. We personallyimplemented MUSIC in its environment.Consequently, we were there to make surethat computers and technical featuresrelated would always be in order. We werethere to make sure that the advisor will beused. Therefore, no technical problemsinterfered with the use of the advisor.

To conclude, we would like to recallthat an advisor system does not aim atreplacing formal teaching. It handles theissue of the transfer of knowledge. Otherstudies with different populations anddifferent advisors will allow to learn moreabout the effectiveness of this particularkind of help.

Transfer of Knowledge 147

References

Boulet, M. M. (1992). Advisor systems:The development life cycle illustratedby two case studies. Québec: EditionDwayne.

Boulet, M. M., & Dufour, F. (1991).Systeme conseiller en compositionmusicale. Le procédi question-reponse: Analyse des connaissancesrequises en troisieme secondaire pourcom-poser un theme mélodique enutilisant le procédé question-reponse.DIUL-RR-9107, Québec: Dép.Informatique, Université Laval.

Bouiet, M. M., Dufour, F., & Lavoie, L.(1992). Description d'un s, Itemeconseiller en composition musicale.Recherches en Education Musicale,11, 57-69.

Boulet, M. M., Dufour, F., & Lavoie, L.(1991b). Systeme con-seiller encomposition musicale. Le procidequestion-reponse: Analyse desconnaissances requises en troisiemesecondaire pour composer une reponse

une question en considerant leprogramme de musique du secondaire.DIUL-RR-9102, Québec: Dep.Informatique, Université Laval.

Boulet, M. M., Dufour, F., & Lavoie, L.(1991a). Systeme conseiller encomposition musicale. Les procidesd'augmentation, de diminution et derepetition: Analyse des connaissancesrequises en troisieme secondaire pourdevelopper un theme milodiquel'aide de ces procidis en consi-dirantle programme de musique dusecondaire. DIUL-RR-9105, Québec:Dép. Informatique, Université Laval.

Boulet, M. M., Simard, G., Lavoie, L.,& Dufour, F. (1991). Elaboration etetude de validiti et de fiabilite de l'outilde mesure visant a verifier leshypotheses formulies en regard deseffets sur l'apprentissage Am systemeconseiller en composition musicale(Période de mai 1990 a avril 1991).DIUL-RR-9106, Québec: DO.Informatique, Université Laval.

Burns, M. T. (1988). Music as a tool forenhancing creativity. Journal ofCreative Behavior, 22, 62-69.

Fédération des Asssociations desMusiciens Educateurs du Québec.(1990). Les actes de la biennale dusommet sur l'avenir de la formationmusicale au Quebe,.. Québec: FAMEQ.

Fournier, G., Milot, J., Richard, G.,Béchard, A., & De Melo, D. (1986).Musicontact 3., Montréal: LesEditions HRW.

Leshin, C. B., Pollock, J., & Reigeluth,C. M. (1992). Instructional designstrategies and tactics. EnglewoodCliffs, NJ: Educational Technology.

Ministere de l'Education. (1983). Guidepidagogique: Secondaire: Musique.Québec: Direction générale dudéveloppement pédagogique.

Ministere de PEducation. (1981).Programme d'études secondaires.Musique. Québec: BibliothequeNationale du Québec.

Moore, B. R. (1990) The relationshipbetween curriculum and learner: Musiccomposition and learning style.Journal of Research in Music, 38 , 24-38.

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