Gathering and timely use of feedback from individualized on-line work

Technology has enabled instructors to efficiently create and distribute a wide variety of educational materials, assignments, assessments, etc. These include numerous types of formative conceptual and algorithmic exercises for which prompt feedback and assistance can be provided to students as they work on assigned tasks. At the same time, the technology records and dynamically organizes a vast amount of information on students' interaction with and understanding of these materials. We present recent developments that allow rapid interpretation of such data in identifying students' misconceptions and other areas of difficulty, so that concurrent or timely corrective action can be taken. This information also facilitates detailed studies of the educational resources used and can lead to redesign of both the materials and the course.