Constructivist Approach to Distance Learning for Counterterrorist Intelligence Analysis

摘要

The uncertainty of unconventional threats confounds the Military Intelligence community. Changing operational requirements and constraints exacerbate the capability to prepare soldiers for unexpected situations. Thus complexity of a training requirement increases while conditions truncate the means to provide training. Training must also prepare a soldier to accept the challenge of the unknown rather than become overwhelmed. One way to use limited resources to develop a competency is to combine distance learning (DL) techniques with adaptive learning strategies. This paper will describe one approach to optimizing the use of DL techniques with Constructivist learning theory to train complex domains. We present a courseware system that trains students in the area of 'Intelligence for Combating Terrorism' (ICT) and an associated authoring tool. This authoring tool supports course development both at the subject matter level and at the pedagogical level allowing the author to create and update the course material and to develop and refine an instructional process that adapts to the learning styles of each individual student. We conclude the paper with a description of our generic programming framework for creating customized tutor authoring tools.