Supporting learners’ understanding of taught skills in online settings is a longstanding challenge. While exercises and chat-based agents can evaluate understanding in limited contexts, this challenge is magnified when learners seek explanations that delve into procedural knowledge (how things are done) and reasoning (why things happen). We hypothesize that an intelligent agent’s ability to understand
and explain learners’ questions about skills can be significantly enhanced using the TMK (Task-Method-Knowledge) model, a Knowledge-based AI framework. By leveraging an LLM-based model and iterative refinement techniques, the agent generates explanations that embody teleological, causal, and compositional principles. Our initial evaluation demonstrates that this approach goes beyond the typical shallow responses produced by an agent with access to unstructured text, thereby substantially improving the depth and relevance of feedback. This can potentially ensure learners develop a comprehensive understanding of skills crucial for effective problem-solving in online environments.
