Transfer Effects of Semantic Networks on Expert Systems: Mindtools at

Abstract

Semantic networks and expert systems can support learning and critical thinking as Mindtools (knowledge representation formalisms for analyzing the world, accessing information, interpreting and organizing personal knowledge, and representing what learners know to others). Both are cognitive reflection and amplification tools that help learners to construct their own knowledge by designing their own knowledge bases. This study examined the effects of building semantic networks on the coherence and utility of expert systems subsequently constructed by undergraduates. The ambiguity of the task was problematic for many of the students, so more scaffolding of required actions would be appropriate. The kinds of thinking required to build semantic nets and expert systems were quite different, with no facilitative effect of one on the other. That kind of transfer would also have to be better scaffolded.