teaching roles for instructional software nashae lumpkin
TRANSCRIPT
Teaching Roles for Instructional
SoftwareNashae Lumpkin
Instructional Software Functions
• Drill-and-practice
• Tutorial
• Simulation
• Instructional game
• Problem-solving program
Drill-and-Practice Teaching Functions
• Directed teaching strategy
• Characteristics:• Presents items for students to
answer
• Gives feedback on correctness
• Gives explanation of why answers are incorrect
• Examples:• Flash card activity
• Chart fill-in activities
• Branching drill
• Extensive feedback activities
Exercises in which students work example items, usually one at a
time, feedback on their correctness.
Drill-and-Practice
Criteria to Meet• Control over presentation rate
• Answer judging
• Appropriate feedback for correct and incorrect answers
• Characteristics tailored to young learners
Benefits• Immediate and private feedback
• Increased motivation
• Saving teacher time correcting student work• Math facts
• Typing skills
• English & foreign language vocabulary
• Countries and capitals
• Preparation for SAT, ACT, TOEFL, etc.
• Musical keys and notations
Drill-and-Practice (cont.)
Limitations• Instructional overuse or
misuses
• Criticism by constructivists
Strategy• Supplement and/or replace
worksheets and homework exercises
• Prepare for tests
Drill-and-Practice (cont.)
• Guidelines• Set time limits
• Use only after teaching the concepts
• Assign individually
• Use learning stations
Tutorial Teaching Functions
• An entire instructional sequence on a topic, similar to a teacher’s classroom instruction.
• Directed teaching strategy
• Linear tutorial – gives the same instructional sequence of explanation, practice, and feedback to all learners regardless of differences in their performance.
• Branching tutorial – directs learners along alternate paths depending on how they respond to questions and whether they show mastery of certain parts of the material.
Tutorial
Characteristics:
Presents an entire
instructional
sequence
Is complete,
rather than supplemen
tal, instruction
Includes drill-and-practice functions
Can be either
linear or branching
Standards to meet:
Extensive interactivit
y
Thorough user
control
Appropriate pedagogy
Adequate answer-judging
and feedback
capabilities
Appropriate graphics
and/or video
Adequate recordkeep
ing
Benefits:
Immediate, private
feedback
Time savings
Offers instruction
that can stand on its own
Tutorial (cont.)
Limitations:• Criticism by constructivists• Lack of well-designed
products• Reflect only one
instructional approach
Strategies:• self-paced reviews of
instruction• Alternative learning
strategies• Instruction when teachers
are unavailable
Guidelines:• Assign individually• Use learning stations or
individual checkout
Simulation Teaching Functions
• A computerized model of a real or imagined system that is designed to teach how the system works.
• Directed or constructivists teaching strategy
Types of Simulations
Simulations that Teach About Something• Physical simulations – allow users
to manipulate things or processes represented on the screen.
• Iterative simulation – speed up or slow down processes that usually happen either so slowly or so quickly that students cannot see the events unfold.
Simulations that Teach How to Do Something
• Procedural simulations – teach the appropriate sequences of steps to perform certain procedures.
• Situational simulations – give students hypothetical problem situations and ask them to react.
Simulations
• Characteristics• Models a real or
imaginary system
• Can model physical phenomena, procedures, and hypothetical situations
• Users can see the impact of their actions
• Criteria• System fidelity
and accuracy
• Good documentation to explain system characteristics and uses
• Benefits• Compresses time or slows down
processes
• Gets students involved
• Makes experimentation safe
• Makes the impossible possible
• Saves money and other resources
• Allows repetition with variations
• Allows observation of complex processes
Simulations (cont.)
Limitations & Problems
• Criticism of virtual lab software
• Accuracy of models• Instructional misuses
Strategies
• In place of or as supplements to lab experiments
• In place of or as supplements to role-playing
• In place of or as supplements to field trips
• To introduce and/or clarify a topic
• To foster exploration and process learning
• To encourage cooperation and group work
Guidelines
• Provide usage instruction and guidelines
• Use either with groups or individuals
Instructional Game Teaching Functions
• Software products that add game-like rules and/or competition to learning activities.
• Directed or constructivist teaching strategy.
Instructional Game
Criteria for Effective Games• Appealing and appropriate
formats and activities.
• Instructional value.
• Physical dexterity is reasonable.
• Social, societal, and cultural considerations are addressed.
Limitations and Problems• Learning versus having
fun.
• Confusion of game rules and real-life rules.
• Inefficient learning.
• Classroom barriers.
Instructional Games (cont.)
• Benefits• Improve classroom teaching
strategies
• Makes learning more engaging and motivational
• Guidelines• Use sparingly
• Involve all students
• Emphasize the content-area skills first
• Strategies• In place of worksheets and
exercises
• As a reward
• To teach “noncognitive skills”
• To teach cooperative group working skills
Problem-Solving Teaching Functions
• Focus on fostering component skills in or approaches to general problem-solving ability, or provide opportunities to practice solving various kinds of content-area problems.
• Content-free problem-solving skills – general problem-solving ability can be taught directly by specific instruction and practice in its component strategies and subskills.
• Content-area problem-solving skills – focuses on teaching content-area skills, primarily in mathematics and science and motivates students to attack problems and to recognize problem solving as an integral part of everyday life.
Problem-Solving
• Benefits:• Promotes visualization in
mathematics problem solving.
• Improves interest and motivation.
• Prevents inert knowledge by illustrating situations in which skills apply.
• Criteria:• Challenging, interesting formats.
• Clear links to developing specific
problem-solving skills or abilities.
• Characteristics:• Tools to help students solve
problems.
• Environments that challenge students to create solutions to complex problems.
• Problems to help develop component problem-solving skills.
• Opportunities for practice in solving content-area problems.
Problem-Solving (cont.)
• Names versus skills• Software claims versus effectiveness• Lack of skill transfer
Limitations:
• Directed teaching• Constructivist teaching
Guidelines:
• To teach component skills in problem-solving strategies• To provide support in solving problems• To encourage group problem solving• To provide practice in solving problems
Strategies:
References
• Roblyer, M. D. (2013). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson.