Gradiance

Gradiance's goal is to offer, at a fraction of the cost of a text, a collection of automated services that:

	1.	Help students master both concepts and programming techniques, offering problem sets and giving advice in response to errors.
	2.	Free faculty and teaching assistants from much of the repetitive work of grading and of creating and debugging assignments, allowing them to develop more challenging work for students and/or spend more time with students who need help.

We have developed innovative technology, namely root questions, to get students to solve long-answer questions through the multiple-choice question format in a way that their evaluation can be easily automated. Unlike conventional homeworks, which are really little tests, Gradiance homeworks and labs are designed so the student is encouraged to learn from mistakes and, eventually, to get the assignment completely correct. Gradiance materials include explanations that help students whenever they miss a component of an assignment.

In a recent survey at Stanford, students confirmed that they found this approach to be a better experience than conventional assignments. Faculty at other schools are enthusiastic about Gradiance too.