SQL-Tutor

Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 6 claims (6 for) · 2 studies (1 causal, 1 design), q2–q3 · 1 of 2 report an effect size · 6 claims rest on one study

Description

SQL-Tutor is an intelligent tutoring system developed by Antonija Mitrovic and colleagues for practicing SQL Select query writing through problem solving, graduated feedback, hints, and solutions.

Components

• SQL-Tutor, the first constraint-based tutor for SQL querying: SQL-Tutor is an intelligent tutoring system for the SQL Select statement, designed as a complement to database courses that assumes students have some knowledge from lectures and labs. "The system provides numerous problem-solving opportunities in the context of various databases", which students can freely choose among. Its interface reduces working memory load by displaying the database schema and problem text, and it provides feedback at several levels of specificity, from simple correctness flags to hints and full solutions. The system has been in regular use in university database courses since the late 1990s. (Mitrovic et al. (2015))

Claims

• The first (1998) evaluation of SQL-Tutor showed students learned from the system and found it useful and easy to use [+W]
• Adding positive feedback let students complete the same SQL-Tutor learning tasks in half the time with the same learning improvement [+W]
• The Low-Agency condition produced a significantly different mix of preparatory activities than the High-Agency condition [+W]
• Hint-level feedback about violated domain principles produced faster and more effective learning than other feedback levels in SQL-Tutor [+W]
• High- and Low-Agency conditions in SQL-Tutor do not differ in learning outcomes, though both improve significantly from pre- to post-test [+W]
• HPK students improved significantly only in the Low-Agency condition, with a large post-test advantage over HPK peers in High-Agency (d = .95) [+W]

Related Products and Programmes

• EER-Tutor
• ASPIRE

Key Sources

• Mitrovic, A., & Ohlsson, S. (2015). Implementing CBM: SQL-Tutor After Fifteen Years. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-015-0049-9

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	product
id	sql-tutor
title	SQL-Tutor
description	SQL-Tutor is an intelligent tutoring system developed by Antonija Mitrovic and colleagues for practicing SQL Select query writing through problem solving, graduated feedback, hints, and solutions.
status	review
product_kind	software
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-28
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content

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