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Many of the world’s challenges – from managing global warming to exploring extra-terrestrial planets - need to be addressed through effective applications in science and technology. However, science and engineering departments globally face high student attrition due to perceived difficulty of courses in these disciplines. To subdue student attrition, students need to be guided by individual tutors to help them learn, practice and test their understanding of concepts. However, due to the exorbitant cost and time involved, this is not practical. This work performed collaboratively with 9 researchers spread across 6 countries from 3 continents, demonstrates that computer-based tutors authored by teachers using Carnegie Mellon University’s award winning software called Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools can serve as a useful tool to assist student learning in challenging scientific concepts. This presentation will introduce the audience to research-based tutor design that provides a friendly and welcoming user interface, displays astute and anticipatory software behavior, and scaffolds student learning through appropriate clues and hints. This talk will provide a walk-through of design, development, and deployment of tutors implemented in undergraduate classrooms across different countries and cultures. Effectiveness of the tutor in producing student learning gains will be discussed. Biographical Sketch of the speaker: Dr. Aravind has over 10 years of experience as a professor in physics education. He is a proficient practitioner of high impact practices in pedagogy. He is widely recognized for expertise in employing computer based learning methods and intelligent tutoring systems in physics classrooms internationally. He has presented over 14 invited talks, including presentations at prestigious institutions such as Carnegie Mellon University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Oakridge National Laboratory. He has authored over 20 peer reviewed publications cited internationally, He has presented invited plenary lectures, led educational technology workshops, presented over 25 conference talks, and. won over 10 research and educational innovation grants. He currently serves as a reviewer for 5 journals in the field of education, nanotechnology, and sustainable energy. Dr. Aravind holds a Ph.D in Materials Science and Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University (USA), and Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Physics from Sri Sathya Sai Institute for Higher Learning (India). |