An intelligent circuit analysis module to analyze student queries in the universal virtual laboratory

This paper presents an intelligent circuit analysis module that is capable of analyzing electrical circuits and determining equivalence. We discuss the module in context of a National Science Foundation funded project - universal virtual laboratory (UVL). UVL is a virtual electrical engineering laboratory for able and disabled individuals to construct, simulate and understand the characteristics of basic electrical circuits. This paper discusses the development of an intelligent circuit analysis module called the circuit recognizer (CR). The CR is a program that has knowledge of circuit theory concepts, and is capable of using this knowledge to provide assistance to a student while he/she is performing the experiments in UVL. While verifying circuit configuration it identifies errors and provides explanations that guide the student to a better understanding of the experiment. The ultimate objective of the CR is to evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching strategies employed within the UVL as well as to enhance the learning abilities of students