Grant winners plan computerized research mentor

by Mark McGowan

M Cecil Smith figures he has taught close to 40 sections of the College of Education's introduction to research methods course over the last decade. Tom Smith, a professor in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment, has worked in the same trenches.

Cecil, a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Foundations, said students learn plenty in the class but "still need a lot of support and assistance in just thinking about research and thinking about research questions."

So the two Smiths, co-winners of the 2002 David W. Raymond Grant for Use of Technology in Teaching, are developing a software-based prototype of an intelligent tutor that would assist students in designing research studies in the social sciences.

The goal is a user-friendly program targeted toward novices and best suited for quantitative types of studies.

"When students have a research question, they basically type it into a prompt and the tutor sort of takes them through in a systematic, step-by-step process of refining the research question and designing an appropriate study," Cecil Smith said. "The entry-level course gives students some basic skills. It's a good starting point, but they need more."

"In the introductory sort of research courses students take, often they do not have the time, nor do we have the resources, to get them involved in real research," Tom Smith added. "We're hopeful this simulation will bring them closer to doing that."

The $2,500 grant was endowed in 1998 by Raymond, a former NIU trustee who donated $25,000 to the NIU Foundation to fund faculty innovations in computer-aided teaching. The initial gift was invested, with annual interest earnings matched by the Office of the Provost, to fund the yearly award to a faculty member whose proposal best matches Raymond's gift criteria.

"It's quite an honor," Tom Smith said. "This is a highly respected award, particularly in our college, where use of technology is encouraged and rewarded. This is something novel for both of us."

Cecil Smith said he and Tom will begin by looking at other software and talking with people who have some expertise in such programs. They also plan to speak with other faculty members on campus who teach research methods classes in the social sciences.

Cecil Smith said the system should provide an important tool, particularly for students embarking on master's theses. "They don't take enough research courses and they don't get enough research training," he said.

Commercial development is possible.

"We're hoping it would be generalizable to other research classes and disciplines," Tom Smith said. "We would disseminate it on CD and make it available online."

"If it's incredibly successful, we can look toward a much more commercial application," Cecil Smith said. "We really just want to see if we can design something that can be used in an introductory level research class."