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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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Educational Software for Learning Information Retrieval
Peter Brusilovsky, Information Sciences, asserts, People search for information inefficiently.” He believes that much of this inefficiency is because they simply don’t understand the actual mechanics of a search. In fact, Brusilovsky points out that “the average search term consists of only one word.” Consequently, in his project, Educational Software for Learning Information Retrieval, he is developing interactive programs to teach graduate and undergraduate students how to design information retrieval systems. First, however, these students must have a solid understanding of the logic behind concepts such as Boolean queries and vector modeling. Currently, the only learning resources for students are tutorials, which “are not very interactive—they’re more passive, merely showing one how to search. They do not explain the actual mechanics of a search and, as such, they do not teach students how to design information retrieval systems.” In order to address this problem, Brusilovsky will complete eight to ten interactive programs that enable his students to construct queries, experiment with concepts, and view the results of their efforts. Applying what they have learned from this process, they can then develop informational retrieval systems. In fact, some of the applications have already been developed by teams of IS students (www.sis.pitt.edu/~ir/). However, Brusilovsky points out that “although the value of the concept has been demonstrated, the developmental projects are not usable because of unforeseen glitches such as interface problems.” A graduate student worked over the summer with Brusilovsky to develop and refine the software. He points out, “Very little money will accomplish a great deal. We plan to use these applications in one undergraduate and two graduate courses in IS. Furthermore, they can be used by students in computer sciences and in the library.” In order to make his project beneficial to all—students and teachers alike—a key aspect of the ACIE award is the evaluation component. He states, “Because it’s not enough simply to give tools to the teachers for their students, we are going to gather data about how students are using the programs. Teachers need feedback too.” The development of these software programs is part of Brusilovsky’s continuing efforts to build a large Web site of IS learning resources that is systematically organized for both teachers and students. This Teaching and Learning Research Lab can be visited at www.sis.pitt.edu/~peterb/taler.html.
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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for Instructional Development & Distance Education |
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