Multimedia instructional software for visual reasoning: Visual Reasoning Tutor (VRT)

Visual reasoning is an essential skill for an engineer to possess, particularly as computer-aided design tools become more prevalent. We describe an innovative multimedia application that provides a student with the tools to build a strong foundation in visual reasoning. The system, called the Visual Reasoning Tutor, exploits the missing view problem as a mechanism to develop the visual reasoning abilities of students, and utilizes multimedia capabilities to enhance the learning process. The Visual Reasoning Tutor provides a student with interactive, geometric operations and intelligent critiques at varying levels of help throughout the steps of a student's solution.