Design of questions and distracters for a dynamic, algorithm-based suite of physics problems for engineering students

We discuss a method to design problem sets for publication in an on-line tool built to coach engineering students in solving quizzes and exams during an undergraduate Physics course. This tool contributes to reinforce the studentpsilas skills when approaching and solving problems. The coach is dynamic because values in formulas for a given problem are unique to every student. We present criteria and guidelines followed to design appropriate distracters for each problem, which may give the teacher insight on common mistakes. If the difference between the answer given by the student and the correct answer is larger than a given offset, then the coach issues feedback to guide them in finding the source of the mistake. We have undertaken a field study with first year university students. We present our results and discuss the usefulness of this tool to assist students through their own learning process.