Abstract
Abstract The best tutors give a student the appropriate amount of guidance necessary for learning while helping the student stay confident, motivated and focused. So-called intelligent tutoring systems, trying to replicate the discipline-specific and the psychological dimensions of expert human tutoring, require enormous investments and are not accessible to the larger student population. PQtutor (physical quantities tutor) is a free online tutor designed to help students work out homework problems closely related to worked examples. The software is an extension of a free online calculator for science learners and uses problems from an open (free) textbook, making PQtutor accessible in terms of both technology and cost. PQtutor works by comparing student input to a model answer in order to generate prompts for finding a path to the solution and for correcting mistakes. The feedback is in the form of questions from a virtual study group suggesting problem-solving moves such as accessing relevant content knowledge, reviewing worked examples, or reflection on what their answer means. In cases where these moves have been exhausted but the problem remains unsolved, the tutoring system suggests seeking intelligent human help.
Highlights
Learning to solve quantitative problems in college chemistry courses is a challenge for many students (Gulacar & Fynewever, 2010)
The goal in creating the PQtutor software was to provide affordable tutoring software for students learning the quantitative aspects of chemistry
A pilot study in a General Chemistry I course suggested that PQtutor can play a valuable role in helping students to learn how to solve quantitative problems, and that it has some limitations and room for further development
Summary
Learning to solve quantitative problems in college chemistry courses is a challenge for many students (Gulacar & Fynewever, 2010). Students have to integrate general problem-solving skills, chemical insight, unit algebra and error propagation into their solution, and learn how to tackle multi-step problems on paper. Learning happens mainly when students work out problems on their own and study for exams (Leinhardt, Cuadros, & Yaron, 2007). Some colleges provide drop-in help to support student’s independent study, offer supplemental instruction or recitations. In the absence of these, students who get frustrated or stuck while doing homework seek various forms of help. While there is a growing market for paid online supplements such as intelligent tutoring software (Wilson & Kennedy, 2017) or online human tutoring, not all students can afford these. There is a lack of low-cost resources with high pedagogical value (Figure 1)
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