He is sharpening analytical skills that will be applied to a variety of everyday problems, ranging from electronics to automotive mechanics to construction. An education professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Derry designed TIPS to help users conceptualize mathematics word problems. TIPS helps students assemble the basic building blocks of the word problems, then guides students as they attempt to combine multiple problem-solving routines into more complex problem structures. As students work through the steps of the problem, TIPS traces their performance. It also recognizes and interprets their patterns of errors.
Students command the computer to play back their problem-solving performances.
Then they examine and discuss the playbacks, stopping and replaying segments of the routine when necessary. Derry and her associates compare the performance of different groups of adults and school students as they work individually or in pairs on math word problems. After students complete the examples, they critique their own strategies or those of their peers. Even though the arithmetic itself is not complicated, sorting out the problem into logical steps may be. It helps users avoid overlooking important steps, becoming bogged down in confusion, or pursuing wild goose chases.