In short, Andes is designed to improve the part of physics instruction that is most in need of improvement, consumes the majority of the students' time, and whose improvement is most likely to be welcomed by instructors. This flexibility in scaffolding not only allows instructors and students to adapt the tutor's style to suit themselves, but it sets the stage for experimental studies of the impact of tutoring style on learning and the eventual incorporation of such empirical results back into the tutor. When our empirical base is stronger, the tutor itself can play a leading role in determining what kinds of scaffolding would benefit which students at which times. Major challenges Teaching concepts. Beginning students confuse related concepts such as acceleration and velocity, mass and weight or force and momentum.
Some students even hold false beliefs, e.g., about what forces exist.
Teaching qualitative analysis. Good physics students analyze problems qualitatively and plan their solutions, whereas poor physics students plunge immediately into the algebra. Teaching effective learning habits. Studies have shown the students who self-explain worked examples learn more effectively in the long run than students who do not. Other studies have shown that students who refer to examples only when stuck during problem solving learn more than students who refer to examples more frequently.