Chapter 9 - Effective Use of Computers in Instruction

• Published in: Evidence-Based Educational Methods pp. 127 - 141
• Main Authors: N. Desrochers, Marcie, David Gentry, G.
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 2004
• ISBN: 9780125060417; 0125060416
• DOI: 10.1016/B978-012506041-7/50010-3

This chapter discusses the characteristics of effective programming of instruction, presenting evidence for the effectiveness of computer-based instruction. The three main types of instructional software are tutorial, drill-and-practice, and simulation. Each of these types is well suited for attaining a particular kind of learning objective. Tutorial programs are commonly used types of software. Tutorials present the learner with new instructional material, test the learner's knowledge of that material, and provide feedback for responses. A simulation program is a model of a realistic situation in which the learner can respond and receive feedback. In learning conditions that are difficult to construct, expensive, or unsafe, instructors may favor use of a simulation approach. Declarative knowledge is easily acquired through the use of rules, which drill-and-practice and tutorial software approaches can help develop. Procedural knowledge may be developed through rules or by contingency shaping, which simulations may foster. To facilitate new behaviors, prompting and fading of prompts can be embedded in instructional programs.