Using a Visual Tool to Guide Students in the Complex Process of Learning Fuzzy Weighted Information Retrieval Systems

In the information retrieval field, Fuzzy Information Retrieval Systems (FIRSs) use the potential of fuzzy techniques to improve the retrieval activities. Some models of FIRSs employ weighted queries to enhance the representation of user information needs and fuzzy connectives to evaluate such queries. In our teaching experience we have observed that students have many problems to understand the different semantics that could be associated to the weights of queries together with their respective strategies of query evaluation, so they must process many examples and compare the results continuously. In this sense, FIRSs are suitable for applying a computer-supported learning tool, so we decided to improve the understanding of these complex FIRSs by the development of a student-oriented software tool. This tool provides an environment for demonstrating the performance of weighted queries with different semantics and their evaluations using fuzzy connectives. The use of our tool by student has allowed them to overcome the main understanding problems related to the different FIRSs models, the students’ motivation has increased, and their marks in final exams have risen.