This paper presents a review of the development of an expert system designed to assist in the teaching of statics. The system is intended to emulate manual solution methods for a range of problems typically used in introductory courses in structural mechanics. It provides the functionality of an expert tutor by offering advice as the student-users work their way through the problem as well as validating methods and results. FORCE-SOLVER has been developed for use on IBM-compatible micro-computers and demonstrates some of the necessary features required to make such an expert system easily used. The paper describes the various elements of the program, including the necessary problem-solving strategies.intended to capture the ‘expert’ knowledge necessary to determine efficient solution strategies.