Teaching Roles for Instructional Software

Alan Shurling

Teaching Roles for Instructional Software

Drill-and-practice

Tutorial

Simulation

Instructional game

Problem-solving program

Drill-and-Practice Teaching Function

Drill-and-practice software functions are exercises in which students work example items, and receive feedback on their correctness (Rayber, 2016)

Types of Drill-and-practice

Flash card activity

Students answer questions that are presented one at a time

Program responds by giving positive or negative feedback

Chart fill-in activates

Students are asked to complete a chart to test for fluency

Branching drill

Students must answer questions correctly at a predetermined mastery level

Then students will be moved onto more advanced questions

Extensive feedback activates

Students receive more than correct/incorrect feedback

Which Drill-and-Practice Software Should I Use?

The software must have the following

Control over the presentation rate

Answer judging

If questions are short answer, program must be able to discriminate between correct/incorrect

Appropriate feedback for correct and incorrect answers

Characteristics tailored to young learners

Benefits of Drill-and-Practice

Immediate feedback

Increased motivation

Saving teacher time

Problems with Drill-and Practice

Can be misused or overused

Can be considered an outdated approach to teaching

How to Incorporate Drill-and-Practice Software

Replace worksheets and homework assignments

Use it to prepare for test

Tutorial Teaching Functions

Tutorial software is an entire instructional sequence on a topic (Rayber, 2016)

Categories of Tutorials

Linear tutorial

Gives instructional sequence of explanation, practice, and feedback to all learners

Branching tutorial

Directs learning along alternate paths depending on how they respond to questions and whether they show mastery of certain parts of the material

Which Tutorial Software Should I Use?

Extensive interactivity

Thorough user control

Appropriate pedagogy

Adequate answer-judging and feedback capabilities

Appropriate graphics and/or video

Adequate recordkeeping

Benefits of Tutorials

Same benefits of drill-and-practice

Plus it offers a self-paced experience

Problems with Tutorials

Criticism since tutorials use direct instruction

Lack of well-designed products

Reflect only one instructional approach

When to Incorporate Tutorial Software

Use for students who are slower to understand the material

Allows for self-pacing

Alternate learning strategies

Use when teachers are unavailable

Simulations

A simulation is a computerized model of a real or imagined system that is designed to teach how the system works (Rayber, 2016)

Types of simulations

Physical simulation

Allows users to manipulate things or process represented on their screen

Iterative simulations

Speeds up or slow down processes that usually happen either to slowly or to quickly for students to see unfold

Procedural simulations

Teach the appropriate sequences of steps

Situational simulations

Gives students hypothetical situ

Benefits of Simulations

Compress time

Slow down the process

Get students involved

Make experimentation safe

Make the impossible possible

Save resources

Allow repetition

Allow observation of complex process

Problems with simulations

Criticism since it replaces hands-on learning

Students may develop inaccurate or imprecise perspectives on the systems’ complexity

Teacher misuse

When to Use Simulations

To replace or supplement lab experiments

Supplement role-playing

Supplement field trips

Introduce a topic

Foster exploration

Encourage cooperation

Instructional Game

Are software products that add game-like rules and/or competition to learning activities

How Do I Select Good Instructional Games

Appealing and appropriate formats and activates

Instructional value

Physical dexterity is reasonable

Social, societal, and cultural considerations are addressed

Benefits of Instructional Games

Allows teachers to take advantage of students’ need to play in order to get students to spend more time on the topic

Problems with Instructional Games

Schools ban games since students feel they are escaping learning

Confusion of game rules and real-life rules

Inefficient learning

Classroom barriers

When to use Instructional Games

In place of worksheets

To teach noncognitive skills

Teach cooperative group working skills

As a reward

Problem-Solving

Problem-solving software functions may focus on fostering component skills in or approaches general problem-solving abilities (Rayber, 2016)

Two Views on Problem Solving

Content-area problem solving

Software focuses on teaching content-area skills

Content-free problem-solving skills

Problem-solving ability can be taught directly by specific instructions and practice

How Do I Select Problem-Solving Software?

Format should be interesting and challenging

Should have a clear link to developing a specific problem-solving ability

Benefits of Problem-Solving Software

Promotes visualization in mathematics problem solving

Improves interest and motivation

Prevents inert knowledge

Problems with Problem-Solving Software

Terms are used to describe the software, but their meaning are unclear

Software claims verses effectiveness

Lack of skill transfer

When to use Problem-Solving Software

To teach component skills

To provide support in solving problems

Encourage group problem solving

To provide practice in solving problems

Teaching Role Summery Teaching function Pros Cons Integration Drill-and-Practice Immediate feedback, increased

motivation, and saving teacher time

Can be misused or overused and can be considered an outdated approach to teaching

Replace worksheets and homework assignments and use it to prepare for test

Tutorial Same benefits of drill-and-practice and it offers a self-paced experience

Criticism since tutorials use direct instruction, lack of well-designed products, and reflects only one instructional approach

Use for students who are slower to understand the material, alternate learning strategies, and use when teachers are unavailable

Simulation Compress time , slow down the process, get students involved, make experimentation safe, make the impossible possible, save resources, allow repetition, and allow observation of complex process

Criticism since it replaces hands-on learning, students may develop inaccurate or imprecise perspectives on the systems’ complexity, and teacher misuse

To replace or supplement lab experiments, supplement role-playing, supplement field trips, introduce a topic, foster exploration, and encourage cooperation

Instructional Game Allows teachers to take advantage of students’ need to play in order to get students to spend more time on the topic

Schools ban games since students feel they are escaping learning, confusion of game rules and real-life rules, inefficient learning, and classroom barriers

In place of worksheets, to teach noncognitive skills, teach cooperative group working skills, and as a reward

Problem-Solving Promotes visualization in mathematics problem solving , improves interest and motivation, and prevents inert knowledge

Terms are used to describe the software, but their meaning are unclear, software claims verses effectiveness, and lack of skill transfer

To teach component skills, to provide support in solving problems, encourage group problem solving, and to provide practice in solving problems