Educational Courseware Research Articles

An investigation of student teachers' attitudes to the use of media triggered problem based learning

<span>This study investigates how teacher education students responded to a particular suite of educational products that involved media based educational learning objects, and their attitudes to them in fostering student centred learning in general, and problem based learning in particular, with the ultimate goal of enhancing and improving the quality of teacher training. Two lines of inquiry have been followed throughout the investigation:</span><ol type="i"><li>to identify and describe student attitudes to the newly developed video rich PBL courseware for teacher education; and</li><li>to explore how such educational courseware can be used, enhanced, and presented as examples of learning objects in actual teaching situations.</li></ol><span>The implications and recommendations arising from the findings obtained in this research project will provide teacher educators with some initial insights when using similar media based products in teacher education.</span>

Knowledge based framework for facilitating e-learning services

The digitisation of educational courseware is rapidly changing the way that universities educate their students. Prior efforts in e-learning focused on the production, capture, and distribution of content. The next phase will focus on the generation of student learning experiences, so that they can more easily organise, share, and discuss their insights. There is currently a lack of content automation that supports collective knowledge construction by the learners. Effective content analysis and indexing are essential for the creation of e-learning services which provide insights into the courseware. This paper describes a prototype learning environment based on digital content management, harvesting of pedagogical information, and generation of personalised learning experiences.

A framework and checklists for evaluating online learning in higher education

A case is made in this paper for using checklists and context‐bound evaluations of online learning materials in higher education. Context‐bound evaluations complement traditional forms of evaluation of educational courseware, such as checklists. Context‐bound approaches are useful for indicating the pedagogical quality of online learning materials that may be productively used in conjunction with checklists to evaluate online learning. Edith Cowan University has developed a framework and checklists for assessing aspects of online pedagogical learning materials in higher education. These checklists, which are intended to be useful indicators of the areas where online learning materials are strong and to identify areas that may be deficient, and are a valuable screening and information gathering device to use when undertaking a context‐bound evaluation of learning materials. As such, the quality of the instructional design remains an important consideration in evaluating courseware, and such information needs to be presented in a form that is accessible and useful for educational developers and researchers. Comment and dissent is invited on the value of contextual evaluations to reinvigorate the debate over appropriate ways of evaluating online learning materials in higher education.

Checklist and context‐bound evaluations of online learning in higher education

AbstractA review is undertaken of what different commentators have written about the evaluation of educational courseware in higher education. Speculation is made on the reasons for the lack of such evaluations. The role of checklists for evaluating online courseware is discussed despite the acknowledged limitations. Checklists have been developed at Edith Cowan University specifically for assessing aspects of online pedagogical learning materials in higher education. These checklists are intended to be useful indicators of the areas where online learning materials are strong and identify areas that may be deficient rather than to arrive at a numeric score. The form of checklist proposed is a valuable screening device to use before undertaking a context‐bound evaluation of courseware.Contextual evaluations are a complementary and valuable alternative to traditional forms of evaluation of educational courseware, such as checklists. A case is also made in this article for using a checklist developed for assessing aspects of online pedagogical learning materials in higher education. It is argued that, when used in conjunction with a context‐bound approach, such checklists may be more useful in indicating the pedagogical quality of online learning materials.Quality of the instructional design remains an important consideration in evaluating courseware. Continuing comments and dissent are invited on the value of contextual evaluations of educational courseware to reinvigorate the debate over appropriate ways of evaluating online courseware that will provide helpful information for higher education.

Creating interactive multimedia-based educational courseware: cognition in learning

Multimedia involves a combination of multiple modes such as text, graphics, audio and video to present information for learners. Multimedia-based learning has increasingly proliferated in educational circles, having been shaped by rapid technological advancements. In designing pedagogically sound multimedia systems a high premium needs to be placed on leveraging a judicious mix of various presentation modes to cater to users’ differing learning styles and needs. This will ensure that learning is optimised which is essentially learner-centric in nature in multimedia rich learning environments. Learner-centric in the sense that learners have control over the pace of their own learning and are empowered to take charge of their learning trajectories. In recent times, cognitive psychology has progressed in its empirical research development and many of the major findings in this field have been of use in the instructional design of multimedia educational resources. In this paper, we review some of these key principles and their implications in the development of multimedia contentware that is both aesthetically appealing and pedagogically engaging.

ASIS&T Joint Chapter Virtual Program: A Learning Experience for the Geographically Dispersed

ASIS&T Joint Chapter Virtual Program: A Learning Experience for the Geographically Dispersed

A framework of synthesizing tutoring conversation capability with web-based distance education courseware

Whereas existing learning environments on the Web lack high level interactivity, we have developed a human tutor-like tutorial conversation system for the Web that enhances educational courseware through mixed-initiative dialog with natural language processing. The conversational tutoring agent is composed of an animated tutor, a Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) module, a database with curriculum scripts, and a dialog manager. As in the case of human tutors, the meaning of learner's contributions in natural language are compared with the content of expected answers to questions or problems specified in curriculum scripts. LSA is used to evaluate the conceptual matches between learner input and tutor expectations, whereas the dialog manager determines how the tutor adaptively responds to the learner by selecting content from the curriculum script. The integration of available courseware with the tutorial dialog system guarantees the reusability of existing Web tutorials with minimal effort in the modification of the curriculum script and LSA module. This development thereby simplifies the change into more valuable Web based training courseware.

What's new in courseware? action research in teacher-student partnerships

In an action research inquiry into the uses of teacher and student partnerships to evaluate educational courseware, two elementary teachers teamed up with two teacher-educators to see how elementary students would fare when asked to identify the qualities and limitations of courseware. Since the participating students were challenged by their collaboration with other students, and were engaged by their evident partnership with teachers, student learned to develop critical strategies when they worked with educational courseware. Since the participating teachers developed their assessments of courseware in conjunction with students who were making explicitly comparative evaluations, teachers learned that hey could rely upon and incorporate student evaluations when they attempted to integrate courseware into the curriculum.

Developing & Running a WWW Biology Course

Having used computers in my teaching for more than 15 years, it was almost inevitable that I would decide to evaluate the use of the World Wide Web as a medium for the delivery of courses. A number of factors were important in my eventual decision to develop a WWW version of one of my second-year biology classes-Biology 2040 Human Biology and Modern Society I. In 1994 I first experimented with electronic bulletin boards (using DEC-Notes as the software platform) with a large (175) on-campus course as a means of improving communications between the instructor and the students, and improving interaction between the students themselves (Collins 1995, 1996/7). In 1995 I also successfully tried the use of computer-projected class electronic notes (using Harvard Graphics as the presentation software) in place of overhead projections. During 1995 I also developed a correspondence version of the Biology 2040 class for use with distance education students. Each of these three elements, together with my previous experience in developing educational courseware, proved to be of immense

Interactive multimedia and GIS applications for teaching school geography

Project Multimedia Geography is a research and development effort to develop educational courseware for the teaching of secondary school geography by integrating GIS and hypermedia technology. This paper reports on the initial experiences gained through working on this project. The discussion also includes the design criteria, hardware configuration and software integration of the courseware.

Criteria for peer-review of engineering courseware on the NEEDS database

An electronic database of engineering educational courseware, called the National Engineering Education Delivery System (NEEDS), has been developed by the SYNTHESIS Coalition. Engineering courseware is computer-based educational material that can be used to assist engineering students in their learning process and assist instructors in their pedagogy. Courseware on NEEDS, as with any textbook or journal publication, requires review to assure quality. To implement this review, we first examined existing schemes that evaluated courseware and then developed our own. We will implement a peer-review system that results in a three-tiered ranking of courseware on the NEEDS database: nonreviewed material, endorsed courseware, and courseware. Endorsed courseware will be peer reviewed to establish that the courseware has correct technical content, is easy to use, and is potentially useful to instructors other than the author. To accomplish this in a straightforward manner, we are going to implement a two-page peer-review form that provides a gestalt review of the courseware. To also recognize the exceptionally high quality pieces of courseware that will be on the NEEDS database, we will implement an annual award for premier courseware that will require greater documentation of enhanced learning and recommended pedagogical application. We are confident that once a peer-review process is implemented, the NEEDS database will gain credibility as a source of courseware that is complete, technically reliable, and aesthetically appealing.

Constructing educational courseware using NCSA Mosaic and the World-Wide Web

In this paper we describe a project aimed at addressing the lack of teaching material in high performance computing. The Teaching and Learning Technology Programme involves producing courseware modules in hypertext format for students in computer science, as well as in mathematics, engineering, the biological sciences and economics. We consider the educational aspects of constructing sound courseware and detail the approach we have taken.

Adaptable Educational Courseware

The concepts of adaptability and portability of educational software and courseware seem to be interwoven in several respects. This article explores these interrelationships in some detail, based upon the presumption that adaptable educational products are also more portable. A conceptual framework is offered for discussing adaptability of tutorial software products. Relationships between this framework and several portability-limiting factors are discussed and aspects of a methodology for the development and use of adaptable (tutorial) products are formulated. As an illustration, the research approach of the USE project is described.

Information Technology in Education: The Situation in The Netherlands

The Dutch government recognizes the need to familiarize its citizens with information technology and to create human capital through this effort, Within its schools, the government sought to widen the range of educational tools and to prepare its upper-level students for future employment. The Ministry of Education has formulated a new policy to develop educational software and courseware to support these efforts, especially in vocational education. Unfortunately, the new policy does not draw upon the experiences of the former Informatics Stimulation Plan efforts or the wealth of developments abroad.

A Professional Development Question

The purpose of this study was to determine whether present computer usage or the expectation of future usage leads to differences in subject attitudes toward the usefulness of computers. This study also introduced predictors in computer usefulness for present and future usage of computers. Subjects were asked whether they presently used or planned to use in the future any of the following typical functions for which computers are employed: word processing, data base management, electronic spreadsheet manipulation, programming, and/or educational courseware. Seventy-five college students enrolled in different computer-based education courses participated in the study. An instrument consisting of 12 positively and negatively worded statements measuring attitudes toward the usefulness of computers were administered to the subjects. Collected data were analyzed by conducting separate analysis of variance (ANOVA). Multiple regression analyses were conducted in order to identify predictors in computer usefulness for present and future usage of computers. Based on the results of this study the authors recommend that practical experiences which highlight course objectives be incorporated into professional development activities. Recommendations were also made for future research.

A lattice representational definition of a hierarchy of instructional processors usable in educational courseware

The basic “recognize-act-recognize-end” cycle can be recognized in elementary as well as in more advanced forms of CAI. This article attempts to offer a unifying formal framework in which different elaborations of this cycle (embodied in a “processor”) can be placed. Three different levels of elaboration are distinguished which can be considered to be situated into the nodes of a lattice of models of the instructional process. A formal definition of such a framework can serve at least two functions. In the first place a uniform and precise definition of various elaborations can be given and new elaborations can be created in a logically funded way. Secondly, such a framework can support the modelling of instructional processes and the stimulation of student behavior. Thus, pre-testing of courseware could become feasible. Aspects of the framework have been used to implement two prototypes of support systems for the development of CAI courseware.

Don't bother me with instructional design—I'm busy programming!:: Suggestions for more effective educational software

This article reviews three classes of instructional design techniques that are necessary if educational courseware is to teach. These techniques can be grouped into those that affect three areas of instructional design: (a) instructional strategy, (b) screen design and (c) human factors. The first section identifies design strategies which are believed to have a direct impact on the amount of learning that occurs as a result of instruction. Instructional design strategy involves the arrangement of content elements and other information in such a way that learning is facilitated. The second section identifies screen display techniques which are believed to facilitate the students' ability to interact with the materials. Screen display refers to the way that information is exhibited on the monitor. In this section I have attempted to identify a few display characteristics which may enhance or inhibit learning. Screen display refers to the way that information is exhibited on the monitor. The third section of this paper identifies some human factors, characteristics, and concerns which will make educational software easier to use and thus result in more efficient learning.

Evaluating Microcomputer Courseware:

To assist special eductors in making purchase decision, this paper presents 13 questions that should be asked when considering the acquisition of educational courseware. The questions presented relate to educational goals, learning principles, factual accuracy, values, attractiveness, use of the computer's unique capabilities, cognitive and physical demands, user friendliness, documentation, technical support, licensure arrangements, and hardware compatibility.

Technologies of the future

In the coming years, the requirements of industry will generate a wide range of hardware devices and software programs. These products will have the potential to significantly alter and improve the quality of education, but this will depend on several factors: allocation of resources for the hardware and the development of educational software and courseware; training to effectively use the new technologies; and development of authoring systems that are friendly, powerful and affordable.

Alberta education's clearinghouse: Functions and findings

One of the major ways in which microcomputers may be used in education is in computer assisted instruction (CAI). However, effective CA1 is difficult to find. Although there are a large number of programs currently available, a school or a school district must surmount a number of difficulties if it wishes to implement a successful CA1 program. Some of these difficulties are: (1) There is a great amount of microcomputer software available. As of December 1982, it was conservatively estimated that 3000 software titles were available in Apple format alone. Moreover, this number is increasing rapidly. For example, in Ausust 1982 the Clearinghouse had identified 200 potential titles in mathematics. One year later that number had doubled. (2) There are a large number of companies involved in microcomputer software production. Unlike textbooks where the bulk of the market is controlled by a limited number of large companies, current software is produced mainly by small companies. There are over 200 companies producing microcomputer coarseware for Apple computers in math and science alone. I do not know the total number of companies producing for all subjects and for all microcomputers, but it is certain that the number of such companies is increasing dramatically. (3) In view of the large number of titles available and the large number of companies that would have to be contacted, schools have a major problem in trying to identify what software is available. While a number of journals have been established recently which attempt to list the available titles, they do not provide the service that the schools need. Generally speaking, their lists are not comprehensive, the descriptive data they provide is limited and evaluative data is almost always absent. In view of these limitations, schools find it very difficult just to get a list of what software might be available. (4) If schools/school districts can find out what is available, they then have to determine what will be useful. In the absence of objective, reliable evaluation information, they have to either trust the publishers’ description or acquire copies for preview. Here they will encounter major difficulties including companies which do not allow preview, companies which do not allow returns, companies which allow preview only upon submission of a deposit, and companies which only allow preview of a demo diskette which may or may not be representative of the quality of the entire diskette. In defence of the companies, such restrictions are not unusual in view of the high amount of piracy and the high cost of developing quality software. Nevertheless, schools face a very difficult time in acquiring preview copies. (5) Even if they can acquire copies for preview, the likelihood of finding a significant number of quality programs is quite small. It is generally accepted that the quality of educational courseware is quite poor at the present time. Our own figures would indicate that only 10% of the available materials are satisfactory for effective CAI. As a result, a large number of packages will have to be previewed before quality materials are found.