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Experimental Assessment of Learning Outcomes Using a Text Book and Interactive Package

Experimental Assessment of Learning Outcomes Using a Text Book and Interactive Package. Roger Suffling Kevin Harrigan, Pascale Proulx, Diane Salter, Vivian Schoner, Kari Stachuk and Stacey Vojtek University of Waterloo rcsuffli@uwaterloo.ca. Sample Course evaluation.

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Experimental Assessment of Learning Outcomes Using a Text Book and Interactive Package

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  1. Experimental Assessment of Learning Outcomes Using a Text Book and Interactive Package Roger Suffling Kevin Harrigan, Pascale Proulx, Diane Salter, Vivian Schoner, Kari Stachuk and Stacey Vojtek University of Waterloo rcsuffli@uwaterloo.ca

  2. Sample Course evaluation “I open the text and my mind goes blank”

  3. What we’ll address: • An instructional bottleneck/anchor • A distributed learning approach • Evaluating alternative approaches

  4. The Instructional Environment • University of Waterloo: • Professional and technical focus • Faculty of Environmental Studies • Environment and Business • Environment and Resource Studies • Geography • School of Planning

  5. Course Context • “Field Ecology” • 0.5 Credits, 2nd year, compulsory • Non-scientists • Applied focus • 2 h class + 3 h lab/field trip

  6. Technical Material as Instructional bottleneck • Math-happy and Math-phobic students • Text book “dry” • Poor learning outcomes

  7. Life Tables: • Accounting system for population dynamics • Understanding comes only by doing

  8. Solution:A Life Tables Interactive Package • Engage the learner • Non-threatening “walk through” computation • Oblige student to “do” life tables • Emphasise applications • Link to Field Work Videos

  9. The Life Tables Interactive Package (IP)

  10. Instructional Presentation • Sampler in class • Material on server • Used in 5 course offerings

  11. What we don’t know: • IP is fun, but do they learn more? • Is text plus IP better? • Retention of text vs IP?

  12. Big Picture • Is CD in back of a text effective? • Supplement distributed learning with text? • Abandon text? (Publishing implications!)

  13. What others say: • Students learn more with computers, faster, liked work more, with better attitudes (Kulic 1994). • However: • “We need to go beyond generic conclusions and make statements about the effectiveness of specific types of computer based instruction”

  14. What others say: • Striking need for evaluation (Baker and O’Neil 1994,Anon 1998) • Little evaluation of durability of learning effect with technologies (Lesgold 1995) • Exceptions: • Hiltz (1990) • Active Learning 8 (1998)

  15. Research Questions • Different outcomes using IP and text+IP? • Different retention for IP and text+IP? • Does text/IP order influence: • outcomes? • retention?

  16. Experimental design

  17. Experimental design

  18. Experimental design

  19. Experimental design

  20. Experimental design

  21. Experimental design

  22. Evaluation of Learning • Before, 30 multiple choice • At 45 min. 10 of above • At 90 min. 10 of above • At 3 months 10 of above • 48 subjects in 4 treatments (Have 40)

  23. Results (Tentative)

  24. Statistical Evaluation • MANOVA on scores • MANOVA on change in scores

  25. At 3 mo all same except Ip/Book Same except book/IP

  26. Technical Conclusions • All approaches work (somewhat!) • Book/IP is less effective? • Decay in performance is profound! • At 3-month retention not radically different

  27. General Conclusion All methods tried work about the same. Value of interactive approach must lie in long-term motivation, not in the individual knowledge. The long term effects on student progress need evaluation

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