The Sequent Calculus Trainer - Helping Students to Correctly Construct Proofs

Abstract: We present the Sequent Calculus Trainer, a tool that supports students in learning how to correctly construct proofs in the sequent calculus for first-order logic with equality. It is a proof assistant fostering the understanding of all the syntactic principles that need to be obeyed in constructing correct proofs. It does not provide any help in finding good proof strategies. Instead it aims at understanding the sequent calculus on a lower syntactic level that needs to be mastered before one can consider proof strategies. Its main feature is a proper feedback system embedded in a graphical user interface. We also report on some empirical findings that indicate how the Sequent Calculus Trainer can improve the students' success in learning sequent calculus for full first-order logic.