Do Students Who See More Concepts in an ITS Learn More?

Active engagement in the subject material has been strongly linked to deeper learning. In traditional teaching environments, even though the student might be presented with new concepts, it is possible for the student to remain passive to such an extent that it is detrimental to learning. This research explores whether experiencing new concepts in an ITS necessarily equates to learning. Initial analysis of data mining student models in SQL-Tutor, a CBM tutor, shows a strong positive correlation between the number of constraints seen and the number of constraints learned. This global trend is mitigated at an individual level, possibly due to individual differences in learning style and behavior. The number of constraints not learned remains relatively constant for all students; however, the proportion of constraints not learned is inversely proportional to the constraints seen. The author suggests deeper analysis into the factors that might cause variability amongst individuals from this population trend.