The UT Philosophy Department has turned to instructional software as a way of expanding access to logic instruction, and, possibly, enhancing quality The developers made ease and efficiency of use a high priority, along, of course, with the accuracy of the programs. Rather, they are tools that enable students to generate proofs and semantic tables quickly and accurately. This enables the user to avoid much of the drudgery and instead to focus more quickly on the big picture, on developing proof strategies. By making logic exercises less onerous and more enjoyable, the applications encourage students to be more diligent in their preparations. The philosophy behind the UT instructional software is not one of programmed or scripted instruction.
Instructors are free to create their own exercises, or use exercise sets from any logic text.
Students can create their own problems and thus can use the applications to evaluate arguments found in real-world settings or to create original arguments. Instructional software brings a further pedagogical advantages. By catching mistakes instantaneously, the programs prevent the reinforcement of misunderstanding and the hardening of bad habits. In a standard course, students often have to wait days before receiving negative feedback. The principle advantage to the software in terms of economics and work force efficiency lies in the much greater ease of grading and correcting homework.