ABSTRACT
This chapter describes communication knowledge and how it should be used in an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). Intelligent tutoring systems, more specifically student-centered intelligent tutors, try to model different levels of communication and adapt to the choices of the human user. Communication knowledge is both the interface and a series of sophisticated tools that actually drive the design of the entire system. The set of tools includes a vast array of interactive styles (menus, natural language, icons) and interactive devices (mouse, touch pads, speech recognition). Tutoring is important in the initial stages of training because students need to know something before they can ask questions. The orbital mechanics tutor, nicknamed OM, allows the student to explore the interactions between orbital elements and ground tracks. The communication management system for OM includes all the on-line tools and windows and a model of how students explore a micro-world environment.
