Students working

Physics LearnLab

Runs up to 4 studies/year with a maximum of 50 students per study. Consists of 2 sections with a total of 50 students

Course Chair:
Kurt Van Lehn
Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center/LRDC
3939 O'Hara Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Phone: 412-624-7458
Email:

View the milestones and steps necessary to set up a study in the Physics Learnlab.

The Physics LearnLab uses the Andes system. Andes provides homework problems for use in introductory physics courses at the college or AP High School level. The problem solving involves algebra, trigonometry and vectors, but not calculus. Andes is not a complete tutoring system, but only a coach that helps the student solve homework problems. It is intended to be used with almost any course's textbook, lectures, and labs. It acts like a workbook, except that it provides immediate feedback and hints while students are solving problems, and it encourages certain problem solving practices, such as drawing vectors instead of imagining them, that tend to increase conceptual understanding of physics. It also grades students' problem solving and maintains an on-line gradebook for the instructor. Five classroom evaluations have shown that replacing paper-and-pencil homework with Andes raises students' exam scores significantly.

The web-based version of Andes is available courtesy of the Open Learning Initiative. It covers most topics in a two-semester course. To see exactly which topics Andes and the Physics LearnLab cover, click here, select "Free and open version", and select either "Module 2: Mechanics" or "Module 3: Electricity & Magnetism." If you would like to try out Andes, select "Module 1: Introduction", follow the instructions there, and be sure to watch both introductory videos before trying to use the system.

It is used extensively at the United States Naval Academy and many of the LearnLab experiments involve students at the Naval Academy. 

Information for investigators contains information about courses that are using Andes.

Slides from Kurt VanLehn's talk : The Andes Intelligent Tutoring System: Five years of evaluations

Contact the Andes team via .

Bob Shelby -

Don Treacy -

Anders Weinstein -

Brett Van De Sande -

Sany Katz -

Michael Ringenberg -

Scotty Craig -

Bob Hausmann -

Michael Bett -

Ken Koedinger -

Kurt Van Lehn -