iSTART-ALL: Confronting adult low literacy with intelligent tutoring for reading comprehension

Amy Johnson, Tricia A. Guerrero, Elizabeth L. Tighe, Danielle McNamara

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

There is little empirical research available on the substantial problem of adult low literacy rates, and limited educational technologies are available to address distinct instructional needs of this population. This paper reports on development and testing of a version of Interactive Strategy Training for Active Reading and Thinking (iSTART) for Adult Literacy Learners (iSTART-ALL) We describe modifications of iSTART to accommodate adult literacy learners, including new practice modules (i.e., summarization, question asking), a new library of texts, and an interactive narrative for adult literacy learners to engage in extended practice of reading comprehension strategies. We report results of a study examining reactions to iSTART-ALL and performance data while engaging with the interactive narrative. The attitudinal study, conducted with 38 adult literacy learners, demonstrated generally positive reactions to the narrative. Results also revealed that task performance was strongly related to individual difference scores on reading comprehension assessments, and more so with higher-level comprehension skills than basic word-level skills, providing concurrent validity for the interactive narrative tasks.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationArtificial Intelligence in Education - 18th International Conference, AIED 2017, Proceedings
EditorsElisabeth Andre, Xiangen Hu, Ma. Mercedes T. Rodrigo, Benedict du Boulay, Ryan Baker
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages125-136
Number of pages12
ISBN (Print)9783319614243
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017
Event18th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, AIED 2017 - Wuhan, China
Duration: Jun 28 2017Jul 1 2017

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume10331 LNAI
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Other

Other18th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, AIED 2017
Country/TerritoryChina
CityWuhan
Period6/28/177/1/17

Keywords

  • Adult literacy
  • Intelligent tutoring systems
  • Interactive narrative
  • Literacy technology
  • Reading comprehension

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

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