Abstract: Most successes in intelligent tutoring systems have come in
well-defined domains like algebra or physics. We investigate how to support
students in acquiring ill-defined skills of intercultural competence using an
online environment that employs clips of feature films from a target culture.
To test the effectiveness of a set of attention-focusing techniques
(pause-predict-ponder) we created ICCAT, a simple tutor that enhances an
existing classroom model for the development of intercultural competence. We
ran a study in two French Online classrooms with 34 participants, comparing
ICCAT versions with and without these techniques. We found that the addition of
pause-predict-ponder seemed to guide students in acquiring cultural knowledge
and significantly increased students' ability to reason from an
intercultural perspective. Further analysis of the posttest and the post-video
viewing discussion found that students in the experimental condition were
significantly assisted by the prediction, and were able to maintain a high
quality of discussion over time. The research thus establishes that a simple
model for intercultural competence activities, enhanced with the novel
pause-predict-ponder techniques, is a viable approach to creating tutors in an
ill-defined domain, and possibly better suited to the demands of the domain
than the standard problem-solving approach embedded in intelligent tutoring systems.