Learning Spaces: Interdisciplinary Applied Mathematics

Learning spaces offer a rigorous mathematical foundation for practical systems of educational technology. Learning spaces generalize partially ordered sets and are special cases of knowledge spaces. The various structures are investigated from the standpoints of combinatorial properties and stochastic processes.

Leaning spaces have become the essential structures to be used in assessing students' competence of various topics. A practical example is offered by ALEKS, a Web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system in mathematics and other scholarly fields. At the heart of ALEKS is an artificial intelligence engine that assesses each student individually and continously.

The book is of interest to mathematically oriented readers in education, computer science, engineering, and combinatorics at research and graduate levels. Numerous examples and exercises are included, together with an extensive bibliography.

Jean-Paul Doignon is a professor at the mathematics department of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. His research covers various aspects of discrete mathematics (graphs, ordered sets, convex polytopes, etc.) and applications to behavioral sciences (preference modeling, choice representation, knowledge assessment, etc.). Jean-Claude Falmagne is emeritus professor of cognitive sciences at the University of California, Irvine. His research interests span various areas, focusing on the application of mathematics to educational technology, psychophysics, choice theory, and the philosophy of science, in particular measurement theory.