Interactive Problem Solving Tutorial
Problems may be solved interactively in a sequence of steps similar
to the standard solution sequence. The top "Interactive Anglish Programing"
window is displayed below for ease of reference only, it can NOT be used
interactively until loaded by clicking on the
"Inveractive Problem Solving" button directly in the Index link page. Two lower
windows are discussed in the text, but are not shown. Links are shown
in underline form as they would be in the interactive window, but the links
are not activated here.
The Problem
The Restart Last button clears the last complete or partially entered problem, table and program.
The Restart All button clears ALL problems, tables and programs.
Problems and exercises such as:
Jane worked a 40 hour week at $4.50 an hour. How much was her wage?
Can be loaded into the lower right window(not shown) from the exercise list.
The Analysis
The problem asks for a wage and specifies a rate and a duration,
so the formula
rate x time = wage
from the formula list is appropriate.
The formula may be entered into the formula/table header window(not shown) directly (useful when
the table must be labeled with values not in formula form) by "selecting"
the window (i.e. click on the window) and then typing in the formula, or a
formula may be entered into the window by selecting one
from the formula list display.
The Chart(Table)
Clicking on Select beneath the formula/table header window creates the
chart from the formula. If the formula is incorrect, click Cancel to
start over.
Some problems require an additional column to label the rows, check the
"Click for labeled tables" box to create this type of table. This should
be done before the data is entered as the additional column of data must
be supplied in the data entry step below.
The data are entered into the table data window by "selecting"
the window and then typing in the values
from the problem in the proper order. The value for the unknown(s)
(wage in this case) is entered as zero. Click the Select below the
table data window to generate the table with the data entries.
If multiple rows of data need to be entered, simply input new data in
the window and click Select again. If the data entered into the table
is incorrect, simply click Cancel below the table data window
to erase the last row of the table. Cancel may be clicked repeatedly
to erase as may rows as needed.
The Solution
All that is necessary to solve this equation is to switch the sides of the
equation.
Step 1: Write the equation from the chart.
rate X time = wage
Step 2: Solve the equation symbolically.
wage = rate X time
The Program
Combine the Solution with the Chart to form the Program.
The computer automatically solves simple equations and displays them as the
program when you click the Select button under the
formula/table header window. Additional commands can be entered into the
program window. Click Select below the window to add the
command to the program. Clicking Cancel will delete the last line
of the program. Multiple lines can be deleted by clicking Cancel
repeatedly.
The Answer
Click EXECUTE to generate and display the answer. The button to
the right of the EXECUTE button displays the status of the debugging
features. Clicking the Debug Off button will turn debugging on,
generate an auxiliary display in the program window and
change the button's value to Debug On. Clicking the button when it
is labeled with Debug On will turn debugging off, remove the auxiliary
display and change the value of the button. The "Click to step"
box causes the program to execute only one instruction at a time. This can be especially helpful
when debugging is on
to see how the computation proceeds.
Clicking the Example button will cause the a "Work Together" problem to
be loaded and executed (See Example 7
for more details). Debugging will be turned on. You will be asked to supply a
table name. Enter any name or just type the enter key.
The Help link returns you to this (the
Interactive Problem Sovling Tutorial) page.
On to Simple Rate Equation problems?