Logic List Mailing Archive

New software: Deductions 1.0 for Mac OS X

Announcing the release of Deductions 1.0: logic software for Mac OS X,
designed to help students learn and construct natural deduction proofs.

Website: http://www.wanderingmango.com

Deductions is intended to be used by instructors and students of
college-level logic courses in philosophy, mathematics and computer
science. It gives immediate feedback at each stage of a proof,
provides hints about how to complete proofs, and comes with a set of
video tutorials that explain and review several challenging concepts
in logic.

Deductions aims to solve the three problems that make proofs the most
difficult component of formal logic courses: not knowing whether rules
are applied correctly, getting stuck in the middle of a proof, and
uncertainty about the rules and strategies. Deductions addresses these
issues by flagging errors, including a hint engine to make suggestions
about how to complete a proof, and having multimedia tutorials to help
students through complex rules.

Features Highlights:

1. Flagging Errors - Deductions flags errors in proofs as soon as they
occur. This is important, because when students are first learning
proofs, they are often not sure how to apply certain rules, and
frequently end up practising mistakes. By flagging errors, Deductions
prevents students from learning the wrong rules.

2. Hint Engine - Deductions provides hints about how to complete
proofs. A common frustration of students is that they get stuck in the
middle of a proof. Deductions has a hints feature which looks at the
proof the student is working on, and suggests how to make progress.

3. Multimedia Tutorials - Deductions comes with a set of multimedia
tutorials. There are so many rules for constructing proofs that it
often difficult for students to keep all the details straight.
Deductions comes with a set of video tutorials, divided into two
groups: how to use Deductions to learn logic, and how to use the logic
rules.

4. Flexibility - Deductions is designed to work with many different
logic systems and textbooks. Both standard and alternative symbols are
included, as well as rules that may be turned on and off individually.

5. Modern Design - Deductions provides a modern interface. As a new
entry into a field that has not seen many updates in recent years
(many logic programs are written for DOS, Windows 9x, or are
rudimentary Java applets), Deductions is designed and written for a
modern operating system (Mac OS X). Deductions leverages the
technologies of Mac OS X to provide a clean user interface, drag-and-
drop support, and a comprehensive help system.

6. More Efficient than Paper - Deductions takes care of the editing
details. When working on paper, especially in large proofs, proofs
must be reworked to add or remove lines, existing justifications must
be renumbered, and so on. These details are necessary for the proof to
work, but have little to do with learning or understanding proofs.
Deductions takes care of these housekeeping tasks by automatically
adjusting proofs when lines are added, removed or moved.