1. Software Tutoring Suites for Introductory Programming
Problets (problets.org)
Epplets (epplets.org)
Codelets (codelets.org)
Amruth N. Kumar
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Amruth Kumar,

2. What Problets do Present problems Grade student’s answer
Provide summative feedback
Record student’s performance
Provide summary to the instructor
Amruth Kumar,

3. Types of Problems in Problets
“Debug this program”
“What is printed by this program?”
“Show the changes to the array after the loop”
“Evaluate the expression step-by- step” 
Not multiple-choice problems
Amruth Kumar,

4. Features of Problem Generation in Problets
Adapted to the learning needs of the student
Maximizes learning in minimal time
No two problems are alike
Deters cheating, plagiarism
Problems are presented ad-infinitum
Supports as many practice exercises as necessary
Amruth Kumar,

5. Problets Topics and Problems (C++/Java/C#)
Sub-Topic
Used Since
No. Problems
Learning Objectives
Expressions
Arithmetic
Fall 2004
192 25
Relational
268 24
Logical
Fall 2006
280 21
Assignment
Fall 2008
255 19
Bitwise
Fall 2010
303 28
Selection
If/if-else
Spring 2005
165 12
switch
Spring 2010
147
Loops
while
201 9
for
213 10
do-while
125 15
Advanced
139 13
Functions
Debugging
Fall 2009
117
Tracing 95
Recursion
Spring 2013 68
Arrays
1-D
172 14
Classes
Access
128 18
Total
2868
249
Amruth Kumar,

6. Problet on Expression Evaluation
Amruth Kumar,

7. Problet on Debugging
Amruth Kumar,

8. Problet on Predicting the Output
Amruth Kumar,

9. Problet on the State of a Variable
Amruth Kumar,

10. What Epplets do: Present a Parsons puzzle:
A problem description and scrambled code
Distracters
Student reassembles the scrambled code
Cannot submit answer until it is correct
Provide corrective feedback
Record student performance
Provide summary to the instructor
Amruth Kumar,

11. Features of Epplets Students re-assemble one line at a time
From code to algorithm
Fail-safe feedback provided to recover from any error
Option provided to bail out
Equivalent answers accepted
Comments provided to disambiguate placement
Student performance measured in terms of number of events
Amruth Kumar,

12. Epplets Topics and Problems (C++/Java)
Types of problems
Number of problems
Input-Output Sequence 1 9
if-else statements 2 14
switch statements 3 28
while loops 23
for loops 24
do-while loops 22
Total 15
120
Amruth Kumar,

13. Epplet on if-else
Amruth Kumar,

14. What Codelets do: Present a problem and algorithm
Grade the code written by the student
Provide formative feedback
Must be addressed before proceeding
Track:
Number of attempts per line of code
Types of errors committed
Amruth Kumar,

15. Problem-Solving Features of Codelets
Code is written in the order of problem- solving process, not program structure
One line of code, One purpose
Good programming practices promoted
Variations of code accepted
Amruth Kumar,

16. Features of Feedback in Codelets
Based on source code, not testing
Never accepts incorrect answer
Never leaves user stranded
Graceful recovery
Only one error pointed out at a time
Feedback as tailored to context as possible
Amruth Kumar,

17. Codelet on Variables-Input-Output
Amruth Kumar,

18. How to adopt Software Tutor Suites:
Instructor requests a tutor suite for a specific language:
Free for educational use
Instructor assigns tutors in a course:
Announces the URL
Students use the tutors online:
Takes minutes
Can be used without instructor supervision
Instructor requests summary
Amruth Kumar,

19. Historical Usage of Software Suites
Problets
Continually used since Fall 2004
Hundreds of adopters
Epplets
Available since Fall 2015
Dozens of adopters
Codelets
In beta version
Amruth Kumar,

20. Acknowledgments Problets (problets.org) NSF DUE-0817187
Epplets (epplets.org)
NSF DUE
Codelets (codelets.org)
NSF DUE
Amruth Kumar,