**8. Acknowledgment**

Part of this research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (21700829), Japan.

#### **9. References**

Chua, L.O. and Yang, Y. (1988). Cellular Neural Networks. *IEEE Transaction on Circuit & Systems*, pp.1257-1290.

Gunel, K (2010). Intelligent Tutoring Systems. *LAMBERT Academic Publishing*, pp.1-15.

**9** 

Akcell Chiang

*Taiwan, R.O.C.* 

**Proposing Two Algorithms to Acquire** 

**Learning Environment** 

*Department of Digital Media Design,* 

*Tungnan University, Taipei,* 

**Learning Knowledge in Problem-Based** 

Discussion-based Internet forums or interactive chat rooms are an effective educational help system for both individuals and teams of learners. Many companies, particularly computer vendors (ComputerHope, 2004; IBM, 2004; Microsoft, 2004), adopt this technology to provide product training, learning or Q&A on their web sites. Nevertheless, the current state of chat forum technology only provides a platform for information exchange and organization (K.Kaye & J.Johnson, 2004). It is still unable to stimulate the users to learn from looking at the problem from different perspectives (Roberts & Ousey, 2003). The work reported in this chapter extends this technology further by incorporating critical thinking as a stimulus in teamwork discussions at algorithm one. We claim that such a method would sharpen web-based educational services. Separating the discussion topic from instant chat would further enhance the system into a comprehensive problem-based learning

Problem-based learning (PBL) (Torp & Sage, 2002) and critical thinking (Fisher, 2001) skills have been used widely in education. These features are particularly noticeable in nursing education (Conway & Sharkey, 2002; Cooke & Moyle, 2002). This problem-based discipline can also apply to vocational education programs, such as, computer troubleshooting, which could be taught as a case study through Internet discussion. As we know, a trainee in a professional discipline, such as a computer technician, is more than just a passive learner but also an active problem-solver in real world situations. When a problem is encountered first in a learning process, it can be used as an initiative to build up learners' problem solving or reasoning skills. In the process, learners would appreciate this learning discussion

Essentially, there is a fundamental difference in the philosophy between nursing education and IT education (K.Kaye & J.Johnson, 2004; Lewis, Davies, Jenkins, & Tait, 2001). The difference in value between a life vs. a machine is such that discussion is not needed. A nursing-problem learning is very conservative in its approach; they often faced with poorly defined problems, incomplete information and etc. But a computer can be reloaded or reformated without any problems. It means we can redo the troubleshooting on a machine again without any major loss. Therefore one of our system design philosophies is to grant

**1. Introduction** 

environment.

and then embrace this added responsibility.

