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.