Chapter 2 Critical Experiments and Current Activities文档格式.docx

Chapter 2 Critical Experiments and Current Activities文档格式.docx

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Inordertoprofitformtheknowledgegrainedthroughsuccessesandfailuresofthepast,aswellastounderstandthecurrentproblemsfacingCAIusers,thischapterprovidesanorientationtoCAIfollowedbyadiscussionofthecriticalCAIexperimentsofthe1960sand1970s.Currentactivitiesintheareaarethendescribed.ResultsofevaluationsofbothlargeandsmallscaleCAIprojectsareexaminedinordertoattempttoanswerthequestion.HoweffectiveisCAIasalearningtool?

Finally,thechaptercloseswithasummaryoftheknowledgegainedfromthetwentyyearsofCAIexperimentation,alongwithaconsiderationofthecriticalproblemsstillconfrontingus.

2.OrientationtoCAI

WedefineCAIastheuseofacomputertoprovidecoursecontentinstructionintheformofdrillandpractice,tutorials,andsimulations.

DrillandpracticeisacommonCAIfrominwhichatypeofrepetitive,or‘flashcard’,approachemphasizesrotememory.Itisusedextensivelyatalleducationallevels.

AnexampleofacurrentdrillandpracticeprogramnowavailablefortheAppleIImicrocomputerisZeitgeist’s‘SpaceMouse’,inwhichcolourandgraphicsareemphasized.Inthisprogramme,aimedatjuniorhighandhighschoolstudents.Thecomputerrandomlygeneratesproblemsinvolvingmultiplicationanddivisionoffractions.Problemdifficultylevelsarepredeterminedbytheteacher.Ifthestudentsolvestheproblemscorrectly,heorshereceivessufficientbait（moltencheese）toattractararespacemouse,whichthestudentmaythenflythroughamazeinanarcade-typegamesetting.Ifthestudentincorrectlyanswersaproblem,thecorrectanswerisprovidedandheorshemayrequesthelpfromthecomputer.

Tutorialsusethecomputerinahigher-levelmodeinwhichquestion-and-answer,dialogue-typelearninginthetraditionaltutormodeisemphasized.Likedrillandpractice,itisusedextensivelyatalleducationallevels.

Anexampleofatutorialcurrentlyavailableforthemicrocomputer（againtheAppleII）isCOMPress’s‘OrganicChemistry’,WrittenbyStanSmithoftheUniversityofIllinois.Thisprogrammakesuseofgraphicsandanimation,andpresentsinformationonspecifictopicsoforganicchemistryappropriateforbeginningchemistrystudentsatthecollegelevel.Followingthepresentationofthematerial,thecomputerquestionsthestudentabouttheinformation.Ifthestudentcorrectlyanswersthequestion,thecomputerthenprovidesmoreadvancedmaterialforconsideration.Ifthestudentincorrectlyrespondstothequestion,thecomputerpresentsthecorrectanswerandrequiresthestudenttoenterthecorrectanswerthroughthekeyboardinordertoproceed.Thecomputeralsoprovideshelpwhenrequestedbythestudent.

Simulations,thethirdtypeofCAI,provideamodelinwhichthestudentplaysaroleandinteractswiththecomputer.Simulationshavebeenusedmostofteninhighereducationtomodelscientificprocesses.Theyareapplicabletoanyfield,however,andcanbeofsignificanthelpinillustratingconcepts,inhelpingstudentstodevelopproblem-solvingtechniques,orinallowingstudentstoexplorecomplexinteractions.

Anexampleofacomputersimulationis‘ELIZA’,aCAIcoursewarepackagedesignedbyJosephWeizenbaumoftheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology（Weizenbaum,1976）.Inthissimulation,thecomputerplaystheroleofanondirectivepsychotherapistandthestudentplaystheroleofapatient,orclient.Itisusedinpsychologycoursestohelpstudentswhoareintrainingtobetherapiststounderstandtheoreticalconceptsandtoappreciatetheemotionalfeelingofbeingontheothersideofthetherapist’sdesk.Anillustrationof‘ELIZA’,basedonaversionnowinuseintheCaliforniaStateUniversity,isprovidedbelow.

ELIZA:

Hello.MynameisEliza.What’syours?

Student:

Mike.

Howareyou,Mike?

Tellmeyourproblem.

Iamlonely.

Isitbecauseyouarelonelythatyoucametome?

Yes.

You’resure?

Yes,Iwanttotalktosomeone.

Whydoyouwanttotalkwithsomeone?

BecauseIneedcompanionship.

Don’tanyotherreasonscometomind?

Isee.

Iwanttofeelloved.

Supposeyougottofeellovedsoon.

Iwouldbeveryhappy.

Canyouelaborateonthat?

Well,IgetdepressedwhenIamlonely.

Whatisityoureallywanttohear?

Inadditiontotheabove,manypeopleidentityanothertypeofCAI–games.Theseareusedextensivelyinschoolsofbusinessacrossthecountryandrepresentlearninginwhichabusinessenvironmentissimulatedandthestudentisaskedtomakeknowledgeablebusinessdecisionsinordertowinthegame–andtolearn.Sincethesegamesaresimplyvariationsonthesimulationtheme,wedonotconsiderthemseparately,butratherincludethemunderthegeneralcategoryofsimulations.

Thesethreecategories–drillandpractice,tutorials,andsimulations–makeupwhathasbecomeknownintheUnitedStatesascomputer-assistedinstruction（CAI）,computer-basedinstruction（CBI）,orcomputer-basededucation（CBE）.InEuropeandelsewhere,theseactivitiesareusuallyreferredtoascomputer-assistedlearning（CAL）.Throughoutthebook,thetermCAIshouldbeconsideredsynonymouswithalloftheseterms.

WealsoidentifytwomajortypesofCAI–adjunct（firstusedbyVictorBunderson[Kearsley,1982]）andprimary.

AdjunctCAIencompassesmaterialsthatsupplementorenrichthelearningsituation.Forexample:

short（half-toone–hour）CAIprogramsthatsupportorillustrateconceptsdiscussedlaterintheregularclassroom.

PrimaryCAImaterials,conversely,provideinstructionofasubstituteorstand-alonevarietyandareusuallyoflongerduration.ThisapproachisrepresentedintheUnitedStatesbythedevelopmentofentirecreditcourses,suchasthefreshmancoursesinmathandEnglishdevelopedundertheTICCITprogram,whichwewilldiscusslaterinthechapter.Inmanydiscussionsworldwide,primaryCAIformsapartofdistancelearning,whichisatermusedinmanycountriestodescribeeffortstoprovideeducationtolargegroupsoverbroaddistances.Distancelearningtypicallyencompassesmanytypesofeducationaltechnology,includingradio,TV,electronicconferencingandmail,andcomputers,inconjunctionwiththemoretraditionalmethodssuchascorrespondencecourses（HoweandRomiszowski,1978;

Howe,1980）.

3.TheCriticalExperiments

ThefieldofCAIisbasedinanumberofdisciplines,butitsprimaryoriginslieincomputerscienceandpsychology.Fromcomputerscienceanditspredecessors,mathematicsandengineering,camethecomputersandtheprogramsthatenablethemtofunction.Frompsychologycametheknowledgeoflearningtheory,instructionalstrategies,andmotivation.ComplexapplicationsoftheseconceptswerenotalwaysappliedinthedesignofCAImodulesintheearlyexperimentsduetothemajorproblemsencounteredasaresultofthenewnessofcomputinghardware,itscostliness,andthedifficultiesinwritingprograms.Thus,theearlyexperimentsinCAIwereprimarilyconfinedtofairlysimpleuses,suchasdrillandpracticeandtutorials.

（1）EarlyCAIDevelopments–The1960s

EarlyexperimentsinCAIbeganintheUnitedStatesinthelate1950sandearly1960s.Theywerefundedpredominantlybythemajorcomputervendors,principallyIBMandControlDataCorporation;

federalagenciessuchastheNationalScienceFoundation（NSF）;

privatefoundationssuchasCarnegie;

andthemajoruniversitiesinwhichtheprojectswerehoused,especiallyDartmouth,Stanford,andtheUniversityofIllinois.Duringthisearlyperiod,anumberofeducatorsprophesiedthatCAIwouldsweepthecountryandultimatelychangetheentirestructureofeducation.

DartmouthandBasic

Asearlyas1958-1959,JohnKemenyandhisassociatesatDartmouthdevelopedthefirstsimplifiedwaytoprogramacomputer.TheynamedthisnewcomputerlanguageBASIC.ThelanguagewasthenusedtodevelopCAIprogramsthateventuallyfoundtheirwayintoalargenumberofpublicschools,colleges,anduniversitiesthroughoutthenationandworld.Theseprograms,alongwiththeBASIClanguage,permittedCAItodevelopatthegrass-rootslevel（Hirschbuhl,1980）.

OneofthemostwellknownusesofBASIC,identifiedastheHuntingtonProject,beganatthePolytechnicInstituteatBrooklynandwascontinuedattheStateUniversityofNewYork（SUNY）.Thepurposeoftheprojectwastodevelopsimulationsforuseinhighschoolscienceclasses.Theseprogramswerewidelydisseminated,anditisestimatedthattheyhavebeenusedinover400schoolsby600teachersand25,000students（Kearsley,Hunter,andSeidel,1982）.ThesimulationsservedasmodelsofhowcomputerscouldbeusedforscienceteachingandalsohelpedpromotetheuseofBASIC.ManyofthesimulationsnowavailableonmicrocomputersderivefromtheHuntingtonwork.

StanfordandPatrickSuppes

In1963atStanford,PtrickSuppesandRichardAtkinson,withagrantfromtheCarnegieCorporation,beganaprogramofresearchanddevelopmentinCAIthatcontinuestodayatStanfordunderSuppes’sdirection.TheearlyworkatStanfordwasconcernedwiththedevelopmentofdrillandpracticematerials