Qhelp-KnowLab is an artificial intelligence system for the efficient assessment of knowledge and for learning that is aimed at promoting quantitative thinking in university students. It is a highly innovative system, whose engine (called KnowLab, that states for Knowledge Laboratory) has been developed on the basis of the results of international scientific research carried out in an interdisciplinary field involving psychology, mathematics and artificial intelligence. In particular, the theories and assessment tools used by KnowLab were developed in the framework of knowledge space theory (KST). KST is a mathematical theory, introduced by Jean-Claude Falmagne and Jean-Paul Doignon in 1985, for the non-numerical evaluation of knowledge and learning. Over the years it has been studied and extended by many other researchers. A bibliography on knowledge spaces maintained by Cord Hockemeyer contains over 400 publications on the subject.

How does it work?

When a student login into the system for the first time, the ITS obtains a very detailed representation of her knowledge, asking her a minimum number of questions. KnowLab selects each new question based on the answers given by the student to previous questions. In this way, the assessment of each student is unique and depends strictly on her knowledge. At the end of the assessment, the student receives feedback on "what she knows" and "what she is ready to learn" and suggestions for studying. Therefore, KnowLab is able to plan highly personalized paths, which maximizes the learning of each student.

Why using Qhelp-KnowLab?

Several reasons can be found for using Qhelp-KnowLab. Some of them are:

1. It assesses students'  knowledge states as fast as possible. Unlike the traditional assessment that requires the student to carry out all the proposed items, Knowlab selects items according to an adaptive algorithm;
2. It gives the student immediate feedback, allowing her to recursively monitor her progress. Starting from this feedback, the student can consolidate the newly acquired knowledge and learn new ones;
3. Learning with KnowLab is easy because it knows "what the student is ready to learn" at that moment and provides her with guidance throughout her best learning path.