Tutors perform an automatic version of Socratic questioning to enhance online courses where in-person dialog is not possible. They also provide a resource for formative assessment in residence courses. The dialog is in the form of questions and answers. The tutor asks questions, and the student answers. Right or wrong answers are followed by additional questions.
Tutors are not a form of Artificial Intelligence. Although the interface looks like a chat, all questions are multiple choice, and no natural language input is possible. The questions and answers were all written by a genuinely intelligent human instructor.
Tutors surface and try to address student misconceptions. Most of the wrong answers are common misconceptions. Follow-up questions are designed to explore the topic and help the student self-correct his misunderstandings. Identifying misconceptions and writing appropriate follow-up questions is essential in the design of a good tutor.
This tool was designed for the Bob Jones University class Sc 200 Essential Science and is widely used in both the resident and online versions of that course. It was written and is maintained by Bill Lovegrove. Contact me at contact@mysocratic.com.
Below is a demonstration tutor on a general-knowledge topic, the Dow Jones Industrial Average.