Workshop on Case-Based Reasoning for education and training

* apologies for multiple reception *
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
=3D

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Workshop on Case-Based Reasoning for Education and Training
http://calisto.sip.ucm.es/cbret02/
ECCBR 2002
September 4th, 2002
Aberdeen, Scotland


---+ Workshop Objectives
Several research areas have been identified in the literature for the
application=20
of Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) technology to education and training.

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) typically entail four components:
domain model, student model, teaching strategies, and tutor interface.
Pedagogical content authoring for ITS can be viewed as a kind of
knowledge acquisition from teachers, and is generally=20
accepted that knowledge acquisition from domain experts has been the
bottleneck of the=20
expert system development. In this sense, CBR can be viewed as a
knowledge-light approach=20
which would alleviate the authoring effort, offering a realistic
approach for building ITS. Although some work has been done in this
area, mainly for student modelling, it remains=20
to be explored ITS architectures that integrate the right balance
between (hard to acquire) expert knowledge and (more easily acquired)
cases, as well as other reusable assets, such as ontologies or domain
independent problem-solving methods, which should alleviate the=20
authoring effort.

Case-Based Teaching (CBT) systems result from applying CBR in the
education and=20
training area. They represent an interesting alternative to the transfer
model of learning. This alternative is consonant with the work of
Piaget, Bruner and Resnick (among others): intelligence is actively
constructed by learner, building upon previous knowledge in=20
pursuit of real goals. So, in these systems, learners actively engage in
"authentic tasks". CBT is a very active area, with open issues such as
the definition of task scenes, the identification of learner errors and
the development of techniques for maintaining and evolving the
instruction case base.

CBR also has a role to play in the web-based learning revolution.
Initiatives such as MIT OpenCourseWare to make MIT course materials
available on the web, free of charge, will=20
change the way that pedagogical contents are built. Nevertheless, this
revolution poses=20
some technological problems where CBR can be applied. For this
initiative to be=20
cost-effective, contents need to be built as fine-grained learning
objects suitable=20
for other purposes apart from the course they were created for. Learning
objects management and organization can profit from well tested
classification and similarity assessment=20
techniques from CBR, building on top of emerging standards for learning
objects metadata such as SCORM or Dublin Core.

Also of interest is the role that CBR can play in Learning Management
Systems (LMS).=20
As B.A. McHenry puts it, a fundamental misconception of today's LMS is
that core content can be developed without intimately integrating
learners into the creative process. Students can identify content that
they find to be useful, or the student's path through the content can
serve to identify groups of individuals with similar interests or that
can move through the material at about the same pace. Processing and
validating students' information would be a daunting task for the
teacher, whereas CBR techniques can provide assistance on identifying
similarities, detecting inconsistencies and supporting the process of
content evolution.=20
More in an industrial settlement, similar techniques can be applied to
turn corporate=20
memories, which are already being managed through CBR, into real-world
examples=20
to feed a company training system.

The objective of this workshop is to provide a forum for identifying
trends and=20
opportunities for research on the application of CBR in the development
of all=20
kind of training and tutoring systems. Topics of interest include (but
are not limited to):=20
- Case-based teaching=20
- Case-based student modelling=20
- Simulator-based teaching=20
- Case-based intelligent tutoring system architecture=20
- CBR applied to knowledge management and knowledge acquisition in
learning environments=20
- CBR applied to collaborative web-based learning=20


---+ Participation in the Workshop
All workshop participants must register for the conference, and the
workshop=20
is open to all registered participants of ECCBR2002.=20

---+ Submission Procedure and Format for Contributions
Papers must be submitted before June 7, 2002, in electronic form as
either pdf (preferred) or PostScript to [email protected]. Springer LNCS
is the format required for the final camera ready copy, with a maximum
of 15 pages. Authors' instructions along with LaTeX=20
and Word macro files are available on the web at Springer
http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/authors.html=20

---+ Review Process
Papers will be reviewed by at least two reviewers from the program
committee.=20
Submissions must be identified as either research or application papers
and will=20
be reviewed using criteria appropriate to their category. Review
criteria for research=20
papers will include scientific significance, originality, technical
quality, and clarity.=20
Review criteria for application papers will include practical or
economic significance,=20
potential to lead to more powerful technology, technical quality, and
clarity.=20

---+ Program Committee
Paul Brna, University of Leeds, UK=20
Peter Funk, M=E4lardalen University, Sweden=20
Mercedes G=F3mez-Albarr=E1n, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain=20
Pedro A. Gonz=E1lez-Calero, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
(chair) Judith Good, University of New Mexico, USA=20
Lewis Johnson, USC/Information Sciences Institute, USA=20
Sowmya Ramachandran, SHAI, USA=20
Derek Sleeman, University of Aberdeen, UK=20
Nirmalie Wiratunga, The Robert Gordon University, UK=20

---+ Important Dates
 7 Jun 2002 Submission deadline for workshop papers=20
 5 Jul 2002 Notice of acceptance=20
26 Jul 2002 Deadline for final camera-ready copies=20
 4 Sep 2002 ECCBR2002 Workshops (afternoon - parallel sessions)=20

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
=3D

Pedro A. Gonz=E1lez-Calero