Evolution and trends in intelligent tutoring systems research: a multidisciplinary and scientometric view

Intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) are a promising integrated educational tool for customizing formal education using intelligent instruction or feedback. In recent decades, ITSs have transformed teaching and learning and associated research. This study examined the evolution and future trends of ITS research with scientometric methods. First, a dataset comprising 1173 relevant publications was compiled from the Web of Science Core Collection databases (including the Science Citation Index Expanded and the Social Science Citation Index). Then, the publication distributions by time, author, institution, country/region, and knowledge sources were analyzed to reveal the multidisciplinary integration paths. Dataset co-occurrence and co-citation analyses were conducted to identify the most popular research issues, the research chronology, and the emerging trends. It was found that: (a) ITS research has been growing in recent years. According to the Price literature exponential growth curve, this field is still in its initial stage while has high potential; (b) computer science, education, psychology, and engineering were the main ITS research knowledge sources, with ITS social science publications since 2007 being higher than ITS natural sciences publications; (c) interactive learning environments, student modeling, teaching/learning strategies, and machine learning have been the most popular research foci; and (d) the Coh-Metrix, problem-centered instruction, and STEM are the current research trends.