Symbolic Questions…and a lot of them

Our library is full of symbolic questions—more than any other online system.

Most instructors agree that symbolic expressions are a very important part of physics. So, in addition to numeric, multiple choice and other question types, Expert TA makes symbolic expressions more than 40 percent of our library.

Our sophisticated grading algorithms are specifically designed to lend themselves to this type of problem. We have an easy entry palette that students love. We have “smart buttons” and we check syntax.

Equation Entry Palette

We make it intuitively easy for students to input expressions with our proprietary equation entry palette.

EquationEntryPalateVector

Students can either use their mouse, touch pad, or keyboard to click on the variables to enter the expression. The keyboard auto-completes based on the variables available.

In the example below, when a student types “f”, the only two options available are “F1” and “F2”. If the student presses “2”, the system automatically inserts “F2”. Students don’t have to worry about whether the “2” is a subscript or underscored or whether the “f” is capital or lower case.

Features

Mathematical Equivalents Accepted

Our proprietary math engine’s algorithms recognize any mathematical equivalent and interpret the expression that students intend regardless of the form. An extra parenthesis or non-simplified answer won’t cause a problem with Expert TA.

EXAMPLE 1
CORRECT ANSWER: F2 cos(ϴ) – F1
ACCEPTED STUDENT ANSWER IN DIFFERENT FORM: F1β-β) (-1) + ( ( (F2) ) ) cos(ϴ)

EXAMPLE 2
CORRECT ANSWER: tan(α)
ACCEPTED STUDENT ANSWER IN DIFFERENT FORM: sin(α) / cos(α)

When students do make mistakes, we identify the error and specific feedback is available for that error. View some examples of this sophisticated feedback in Feedback Examples.