Building Complex Solutions From Simple Solutions in the Animation Tutor: Task Completion

The goal of this project, an animation-based tutor for algebra word problems, is to build instructional software to improve estimation, reasoning, and problem-solving skills. In this study, we focused on the 2nd (task completion) module, which uses tank-filling problems in which the unknown variable is the time it will take to fill a tank. Students build on the answers to a simple (no leak) problem to estimate, and then calculate, answers to problems in which there is a leak in the bottom of the tank, a leak in the side of the tank, and a delay in starting one of the pipes. We evaluated the software in an intermediate algebra class consisting of a diverse group of students at a community college. We use the findings to discuss what works (estimation and the solution of the simpler problems) and to make recommendations on how to improve use of the decomposition method for solving the more complex problems.