Creating problem-solving laboratories for undergraduate courses using knowledge-based expert systems

A means of enhancing student learning that takes advantage of the fact that students learn better when they are challenged with problem-solving tasks is described. The technique relies on using custom-designed knowledge-based expert systems (KBESs) as courseware for teaching/learning activities so that essentially a problem-solving laboratory that emphasizes experimental learning is realized. As KBESs comprise highly goal-oriented problem-solving tools, their utilization inherently promotes a medium highly conducive to learning. In this medium, interaction with the material being learned, changing the parameters of the phenomena and seeing the consequences, and learning by doing are the prominent characteristics, all of which are typical of any laboratory-driven learning