Computer assisted teaching system for the diagnosis of building defects

This paper describes the development of a computer assisted training system for teaching and testing surveyors. The development started with the introduction to the construction industry of early expert systems. Whilst expert systems were intended to act purely as decision systems, they were seen to offer potential as vehicles for capturing expertise and experience as well as knowledge and be used for training purposes. To enable the knowledge bases within the system to be structured it was necessary to examine how domain experts solve problems. Knowledge bases representing this process were incorporated into various shell systems and evaluated. Traditional methods of information transfer, both at the initial learning stage and for continuing professional development, were considered, it was found that shell systems had certain attributes which, whilst not part of their original design concept, could be used to capture and manipulate knowledge and train the user to solve problems. By using data given to the user in carefully structured cases studies, offering advice, guidance and knowledge gained by application to plausible scenarios, the system offers a valuable additional tool to the process of education and training.