Treffer: Preliminary Assessment of the Java Intelligent Tutoring System

In an effort to support the growing trend of the Java programming language and to promote web-based personalized education, the Java Intelligent Tutoring System (JITS) was designed and developed. This tutoring system is unique in several ways. Most ITS require the teacher to author problems with corresponding solutions. JITS, on the other hand, requires the teacher to only supply the problem and problem specification. As a result, JITS intelligently examines the student’s submitted code and determines appropriate feedback based on a number of factors such as the student’s skill, JITS cognitive model of the student, and problem details. JITS is intended to be used by beginner programming students in their first year of College or University. This paper discusses the preliminary assessment of the Java Intelligent Tutoring System at the Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. The results of a qualitative investigation are presented describing the benefits and suggestions for improvement of