Dynamic Assessment of Proficiency for Solving Procedural Knowledge Tasks

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Abstract
Computer-coached practice environments can serve two purposes: to instruct and to assess. Sherlock I is a computer-coached practice environment for teaching avionics troubleshooting skills. Instruction is based on the dynamic assessment of the learner in the context of a troubleshooting problem. A cognitive task analysis of troubleshooting proficiency was used to develop Sherlock's instructional and assessment goals. As a learner works through a problem, Sherlock assesses the quality of his or her decisions and uses that information to provide the level of hint explicitness necessary at particular decision points in the problem. Specific competency building is situated within the troubleshooting context and is sharpened to the extent that satisfies each individual's needs. When a learning impasse is reached, Sherlock generates the appropriate level of feedback to the trainee based on his or her prior performance. Sherlock's hinting structure challenges trainees with learning opportunities that would be ju...