COMPARISON OF ITS AND XAI APPROACHES TO EXPLANATION
The most obvious distinction between ITS and XAI programs in general is
that ITS programs manipulate and interpret three essential models: 1)
the formalization of what is to be learned (domain model ); 2)
hypotheses about the user’s knowledge and cognitive activity
(student model ); and 3) a pedagogical method (e.g., applying acurriculum model ).
Strikingly, XAI programs attempt to help users learn—which is after
all the intent of providing explanations—without similar models and
interactive capabilities. In effect, ITS and XAI researchers have
proceeded with different perspectives on the learning activity, the
nature of explanation, importance of understanding the user/student’s
mental model and reasoning method, and following a comprehensive
pedagogical plan for instructing the student. We consider each of these
aspects briefly here.