Abstract
Addressing heterogeneity in the classroom by adapting instruction to learners’ needs challenges teachers in their daily work. To provide adaptive instruction in the most flexible way, teachers face the problem of assessing students’ individual characteristics (learning prerequisites and learning needs) and situational states (learning experiences and learning progress) along with the characteristics of the learning environment. To support teachers in gathering and processing such multidimensional diagnostic information in class, we have developed a client–server based software prototype running on mobile devices: the Teachers’ Diagnostic Support System. Following the generic educational design research process, we (1) delineate theoretical implications for system requirements drawn from a literature review, (2) describe the systems’ design and technical development and (3) report the results of a usability study. We broaden our theoretical understanding of heterogeneity within school classes and establish a basis for technological interventions to improve diagnostic accuracy in adaptive instructional strategies.
Highlights
Given a student body heterogeneous in both the cognitive and emotional-motivational prerequisites of learning, teachers face the challenge of providing adaptive instruction
Based on the above-mentioned implications for technology-based support of teachers’ continual diagnostic activities during class, we developed the Teachers’ Diagnostic Support System (TDSS)
The perceived suitability of the system for conducting continual diagnostic tasks in classrooms was rated quite high (M = 3.73), and the participants considered the TDSS to be useful for supporting their diagnostic tasks
Summary
Given a student body heterogeneous in both the cognitive and emotional-motivational prerequisites of learning, teachers face the challenge of providing adaptive instruction. We argue that the quality of teachers’ decisions about adaptive instructional measures greatly depends on the accessibility and validity of multidimensional and even time-varying diagnostic information. Teachers’ mostly informal diagnostic activities are vulnerable to judgement biases because they have to integrate information from various sources and evaluate spontaneous impressions of behavioural cues to adjust instructional strategies flexibly under time pressure. The task of continually collecting, integrating and displaying valid diagnostic information can be executed by a technologybased Teachers’ Diagnostic Support System (TDSS). TDSS can lay an important foundation to justify teachers’ decisions on “adapting” instructional strategies for a given group of learners in a dynamic learning environment
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
