A Shell for Intelligent Help Systems

The research reported here is part of a project aimed at the construction of an environment for building intelligent help systems. A help system supports the user in handling and mastering an information processing system. Core of this environment is a shell that contains all domain independent procedures and knowledge. A comprehensive help system not only answers questions of users, but also 'looks over their shoulders* and interrupts when appropriate. This means that a help system is equipped with a PERFORMANCE INTERPRETER, consisting of a PLAN RECOGNISER, a DIAGNOSER, and a QUESTION INTERPRETER. Part of this shell and focus of this paper is a generic COACH. In a help system a COACH has two functions: to assist the user with a current problem and to teach the user about the IPS. The proposed COACH consists of three layers: 1) A DIDACTIC GOAL GENERATOR which generates an overlay of domain concepts that may be taught, 2) STRATEGY PLANNER which constructs coaching strategies, and 3) TACTICS which are the terminal elements of strategies. They are the speech acts finally "uttered" by the COACH. In this paper these three layers are discussed in greater detail and are related to empirical research.