The Effectiveness of Internally-Generated Feedback with an Instructional Expert System

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Abstract
An expert system was developed and included as a feedback stimulus component of an instructional unit that taught the production of graphics instructional materials. The expert system was used to help students generate their own feedback about the quality of their production projects. Implementation of the expert system raised questions about its effects on processing activities and learning. To investigate these questions, a total of forty-three students were assigned to either an internal (provided by expert system) or external (provided by an instructor) feedback condition. Internally-generated feedback, stimulated by the expert system, proved as effective as externally provided feedback in the learning of the production tasks and improved both the learning and application of evaluation criteria in a complex evaluation task. The internal feedback group were also more creative in their evaluations. Students who used the expert system held positive opinions about its use.