This Phase I SBIR proposal is aimed at advancing the state of the art in chemistry education software in a critically important respect demanded by students, teachers, administrators and Quantum Simulations, Inc. customers. The focus of this innovation is the development of meaningful interactive tutoring and assessment capabilities for chemistry problem solving. Empowerment of students to make the proper decisions about drugs through experiencing the scientific process requires a solid education in basic chemistry. Chemical formulas comprise much of the fundamental """"""""language"""""""" of chemistry in which students must be fluent in order to succeed. The topic of writing and understanding chemical formulas, a cornerstone of all general chemistry classes, is a reasonable starting point for the development of an AI assessment system for student learning in chemistry. A solid understanding of chemical formulas is a prerequisite to success in chemistry required not only for literacy to make informed decisions about drugs from a scientific standpoint, but also to enable and prepare students to pursue careers in research related to drug abuse. Quantum has already successfully developed and commercialized an ITS for writing chemical formulas which will be used as the starting point for the present work. The proposed technology will benefit all students; however, it is specifically targeted to help those who have the greatest need, such as students of average or marginal performance and students from historically underserved groups, by lowering barriers to accessing high-quality science instructional software. Quantum customers include textbook publishers, software providers, hardware vendors and distance learning companies. A prominent textbook publisher, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, has entered into two long-term contracts with Quantum, resulting in rapid dissemination to an established end user base. Quantum intends to employ an identical business model to commercialize the results of this project.
