Designing a Solver for Arithmetic Constraints to Support Education in Mathematics
Ana Paula Tomás, Nelma Moreira, Nuno Pereira · 2006
We present a conditional rewrite system for arithmetic and membership univariate constraints over real numbers, designed for computer assisted learning (CAL) in elementary math. Two fundamental principles guided the design of the proposed rewrite rules: cognitive fidelity (emulating steps students should take) and correctness , aiming that step-by-step solutions to problems look like ones carried out by students. In order to gain more flexibility to modify rules, add new ones and customize solvers, the rules are written in a specification language and then compiled to Prolog. The rewrite system is complete for a relevant subset of problems found in high-school math textbooks. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.