Computer skills instruction for pre-service teachers: A comparison of three instructional approaches

The computer self-efficacy of teachers contributes positively to their technology integration self-efficacy. Many studies have examined instructional strategies that foster computer self-efficacy but not their corresponding impact on teachers’ technology integration self-efficacy. This study investigated the instructional strategies used for pre-service teacher computer skills instruction and their corresponding impact on teacher computer self-efficacy and technology integration self-efficacy. Using a multiple case-study approach, video recordings were made of the class sessions of three participating instructors throughout a semester. Content analysis of these video recordings found the instructors using three approaches of computer skills instruction: Extensive behavioral modeling, targeted behavioral modeling, and independent problem-solving. Analysis of pre and post-study student survey responses also found that the three instructional approaches raised their perceived computer self-efficacy. However, the effect sizes were largest when the independent problem-solving approach was used. This approach was also found to have had better motivational effects on students than the extensive behavioral modeling approach. On the other hand, computer skills instruction increased students’ technology integration self-efficacy only when instructors modeled teaching-related examples and provided students with multiple mastery experiences of technology integration practices. The applications of the three computer skills instructional approaches for teacher education are discussed.     

Learning spreadsheets: human instruction vs. computer-based instruction

Abstract

The increasing need to instruct students in the use of personal computer software, especially electronic spreadsheets, is placing greater demands on the already full university curriculum. A potential help in meeting these demands is the readily available computer-based software tutorials. In order to explore the feasibility of computer-based instruction as an alternative to human instruction, this research compares two modes of instruction, computer-based and human. An experiment was conducted with groups of business student subjects. The research results indicate no difference in students‘ attitude towards computer-based instruction and human instruction of spreadsheets. Students’ short-term recall of the software syntax being taught is as strong with computer-based instruction as with human instruction. These results were not affected by the level of personal computer experience that students had prior to the experiment. However, the ability to comprehend and immediately apply the software to a task is greater with human instruction than with computer-aided instruction. This advantage holds true for students instructed by experienced and inexperienced instructors.     

Learning spreadsheets: human instruction vs. computer-based instruction

The increasing need to instruct students in the use of personal computer software, especially electronic spreadsheets, is placing greater demands on the already full university curriculum. A potential help in meeting these demands is the readily available computer-based software tutorials. In order to explore the feasibility of computer-based instruction as an alternative to human instruction, this research compares two modes of instruction, computer-based and human. An experiment was conducted with groups of business student subjects. The research results indicate no difference in students' attitude towards computer-based instruction and human instruction of spreadsheets. Students' short-term recall of the software syntax being taught is as strong with computer-based instruction as with human instruction. These results were not affected by the level of personal computer experience that students had prior to the experiment. However, the ability to comprehend and immediately apply the software to a task is greater with human instruction than with computer-aided instruction. This advantage holds true for students instructed by experienced and inexperienced instructors.     

Development of a diagnostic system using a testing-based approach for strengthening student prior knowledge

Students learn new instructions well by building on relevant prior knowledge, as it affects how instructors and students interact with the learning materials. Moreover, studies have found that good prior knowledge can enable students to attain better learning motivation, comprehension, and performance. This suggests it is important to assist students in obtaining the relevant prior knowledge, as this can enable them to engage meaningfully with the learning materials. Tests are often used to help instructors assess students’ prior knowledge. Nevertheless, conventional testing approaches usually assign only a score to each student, and this may mean that students are unable to realize their own individual weaknesses. To address this problem, instructors can diagnose the test results to provide more detailed information to each student, but this is obviously a time-consuming process. Therefore, this study proposes a testing-based diagnosis system to assist instructors and students in diagnosing and strengthening prior knowledge before new instruction is undertaken. Furthermore, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in an interdisciplinary course, since several studies have indicated that students learn more and better in such courses when applying relevant prior knowledge to what they are learning. The experimental results show that the developed system is able to effectively diagnose students’ prior knowledge and enhance their learning motivation and performance on an interdisciplinary course. In addition, two diagnostic evaluations were also conducted to assess whether the diagnoses given by the system were consistent with the decisions of experts. The results demonstrate that the proposed system can effectively assist instructors and students in diagnosing and strengthening prior knowledge before new instruction is undertaken, since the diagnoses produced by the system were broadly consistent with those of experts.     

Monitoring student progress using virtual appliances: A case study

The interactions that students have with each other, with the instructors, and with educational resources are valuable indicators of the effectiveness of a learning experience. The increasing use of information and communication technology allows these interactions to be recorded so that analytic or mining techniques are used to gain a deeper understanding of the learning process and propose improvements. But with the increasing variety of tools being used, monitoring student progress is becoming a challenge. The paper answers two questions. The first one is how feasible is to monitor the learning activities occurring in a student personal workspace. The second is how to use the recorded data for the prediction of student achievement in a course. To address these research questions, the paper presents the use of virtual appliances, a fully functional computer simulated over a regular one and configured with all the required tools needed in a learning experience. Students carry out activities in this environment in which a monitoring scheme has been previously configured. A case study is presented in which a comprehensive set of observations were collected. The data is shown to have significant correlation with student academic achievement thus validating the approach to be used as a prediction mechanism. Finally a prediction model is presented based on those observations with the highest correlation.     

CAI in digital logic design,debugging, and programming

This paper describes design techniques for generative computer-assisted instruction (CAI) systems. These are systems which are capable of generating problems for students and deriving and monitoring the solutions to these problems. The difficulty of the problem, the pace of instruction, and the depth of monitoring are all tailored to the individual student. Parts of the solution algorithms can also be used to analyze an incorrect student response and determine the exact nature of the student's error in order to supply him with meaningful remedial comments.A generative CAI system which teaches logic design and machine-language programming will be discussed. This CAI system covers the material in an introductory course in digital systems aimed at electrical engineering juniors. It does not replace classroom lectures or the textbook, but instead serves to provide practice and instruction in applying this material to solve problems.In addition, a companion system to teach laboratory principles has been designed. This system teaches a student how to construct a combinational or sequential logic circuit using standard integrated circuits. The student's logic circuit is automatically interfaced to the computer and tested; the computer then aids the student in debugging his circuit. In addition to teaching the student how to use integrated circuits to realize a paper design, the system also teaches the student good debugging techniques.     

Online study tools: College student preference versus impact on achievement

Forty-eight college students participated in an ABAB analysis; the A condition was online study groups and the B condition was online practice tests. Students prepared for two in-class examinations under the A condition and two in-class examinations under the B condition. Based on Bloom’s taxonomy, all examinations contained items that assessed student mastery of course content in terms of: (1) knowledge, (2) comprehension, (3) application, and (4) synthesis. Ten questionnaire items established that participating students preferred online practice tests over online study groups. Such preference, however, was not significantly related to any measure of academic achievement. While small sample size renders generalization of findings tenuous, the results of the investigation suggest that various online study tools may have differential effectiveness for knowledge, comprehension, application, and synthesis instruction objectives. Although student preference is an important consideration, instructors should select online study tools on the basis of established learning benefits.     

The impact of presentation graphics on students’ experience in the classroom

To investigate the benefits and perceived effectiveness of instructional technology, students enrolled in several courses were compared on student evaluations of instruction, grades and an attitudinal questionnaire. The instructors of the courses taught the same course across two successive semesters, using traditional “chalk-and-talk” methods the first semester, and PowerPoint the next; all other techniques (e.g., exams, lecture material) were held constant. Results suggest that organization and clarity, entertainment and interest, professor likeability, and good professor behaviors were enhanced with PowerPoint although final grades were not.     

CMS-based simulations in the writing classroom: Evoking genre through game play

The incarnation of many Internet-based courses is informed by traditional notions of classroom instruction in which course/content management systems (CMSs) like WebCT™ and Blackboard™ are used to reproduce actions undertaken in brick-and-mortar classrooms. In this article, I argue that the way in which the CMS is configured and deployed can provide students with the sense that they are immersed in a social activity other than taking a college course. Elaborating on a simulation-building methodology developed by Clark Aldrich, I show how we have created a CMS that helps communication instructors evoke and immerse students in discourse-demanding situations. This sense of immersion is especially important for communication-intensive courses in which students seek to practice disciplinary and workplace genres whose social motive may not be readily reproducible within the confines of the (computer) classroom.     

Empowering students through digital game authorship: Enhancing concentration,critical thinking,and academic achievement

Digital game-based learning is a popular strategy for engaging students by making learning fun. Actively involving students as designers and producers of digital games may have even greater potential for student empowerment through enhancing concentration and engagement, fostering higher order thinking, and improving learning outcomes. Thus, this study empirically investigated the impact of digital game authoring on students' concentration, critical thinking skills, and academic achievement. A total of 67 students in two seventh-grade classes participated in this 19-week-long experiment, and were divided into an experimental group (32 students designing digital games) and a comparison group (35 students designing Flash animations). The interdisciplinary approach involved integrating biology and computer programming classes. Students in the experimental group designed digital games based upon biology course content, while the comparison group collaboratively produced Flash animations based upon the same course content. The experimental results, using MANCOVA for pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest scores, demonstrate significant improvements in critical thinking skills, and academic achievement, with increased retention of both course content and critical thinking skills observed for the delayed posttest. For concentration, a relative advantage for the experimental group as compared with the comparison group was noted, but did not reach statistical significance. Based on the results of this study, implications for practitioners and researchers are provided, including the integration of programming or computer science with other courses for digital game authoring and the evaluation of other learning outcomes such as creative thinking, problem-solving, and flow.     

Predicting students' final performance from participation in on-line discussion forums

On-line discussion forums constitute communities of people learning from each other, which not only inform the students about their peers' doubts and problems but can also inform instructors about their students' knowledge of the course contents. In fact, nowadays there is increasing interest in the use of discussion forums as an indicator of student performance. In this respect, this paper proposes the use of different data mining approaches for improving prediction of students' final performance starting from participation indicators in both quantitative, qualitative and social network forums. Our objective is to determine how the selection of instances and attributes, the use of different classification algorithms and the date when data is gathered affect the accuracy and comprehensibility of the prediction. A new Moodle's module for gathering forum indicators was developed and different executions were carried out using real data from 114 university students during a first-year course in computer science. A representative set of traditional classification algorithms have been used and compared versus classification via clustering algorithms for predicting whether students will pass or fail the course on the basis of data about their forum usage. The results obtained indicate the suitability of performing both a final prediction at the end of the course and an early prediction before the end of the course; of applying clustering plus class association rules mining instead of traditional classification for obtaining highly interpretable student performance models; and of using a subset of attributes instead of all available attributes, and not all forum messages but only students' messages with content related to the subject of the course for improving classification accuracy.     

Development of instructional strategy of computer application software for group instruction

This study was designed to develop practical and effective teaching strategies of computer application software for group instruction at Tamkang University. The assumption was that practical strategies for learning computer application software that were highly organized, provided hands-on learning, and proceeded in small steps would be successful in increasing the skill level of students. It utilized the cognitive concept of “scaffolding” that novice should be assisted at the beginning and promoted to self-learning. At the first stage, students and instructors evaluated four Microsoft PowerPoint instructional CD-ROMs and an instructional CD-ROM was developed according to the designing principles of the evaluation. Secondly, interviews were employed to gather data from the instructors and students of introductory computer courses. Based on the criteria defined by literature review and interview, instructional strategies for computer application software learning for group instruction were developed. These strategies and designing guidelines were further implemented and revised by selected instructors. Formative evaluation of instructional strategies and designing guidelines for instructional CD-ROM were conducted with participant observation and interview. Instructional strategies, which included motivation, organization, demonstration, practice, and transfer stages, were developed for evaluation. After the evaluation, instructors reported that these strategies provided them a systematic and efficient approach in designing their instruction and the instructional CD-ROM were helpful to the group instruction process. The students concluded that the new instructional processes were more motivating, organized and interacting. However, students suggested they need more time for practice during group instruction. They recommended that the instructional CD-ROM could take the major role of individualized instruction after 4–6 h of group instruction.     

College students’ perceived threat and preference for seeking help in traditional,distributed, and distance learning environments

The purpose of the present study was to examine how college students’ help seeking behavior varied across different instructional learning environments. Four hundred and seventy four (N = 472) students enrolled in distance, distributed, and traditional classes were queried about their help seeking preferences, help seeking tendencies, personal threat in seeking help, and academic self-efficacy. It was hypothesized that students enrolled in courses with an online computer component would report (a) higher instances of help seeking behavior, particularly from instructors; and (b) feel less threatened to seek help than students in traditional learning environments. It was also expected that student achievement would be significantly correlated with formal help seeking, academic self-efficacy, and perceived threat to seek help. Lastly, it was postulated that students would report that they prefer to use electronic means to seek help and that they find it more effective. Overall the hypotheses of this study were supported. Educational implications and recommendations are provided regarding the type of technological tools that college instructors might consider using in their courses to promote help seeking.     

Paying attention to adult learners online: The pedagogy and politics of community

Our article profiles the evolution of a fully online writing course designed for adult learners in our university's Prior Learning Assessment Program. Based on our own observations and experiences teaching adult learners online, we question if the virtual learning environment presents different challenges and prospects for the adult learner versus the traditional student learner, along with an extension and complication of the more social metaphors of “virtual community.” Moreover, because of the changing demographic from traditional to adult students, we argue that this change also fosters a change in the relationship between teachers and students. In chronicling this relationship, we note problems when the labor of adult education becomes invisible to those supervising online instructors. Because of these “invisible” labor issues, we argue that successful online instruction must include a range of interactions between students and instructors that extend the more public concept of community to better acknowledge the importance of personal, private interaction. Thus, we conclude with a call to rethink our online writing pedagogies to be more flexible to adult learner needs and learning styles, simultaneously recognizing the impact of adult online education on faculty workload.     

Design and development of a technology enhanced hybrid instruction based on MOLTA model: Its effectiveness in comparison to traditional instruction

Using the model for learning and teaching activities (MOLTA), a new technology enhanced hybrid instruction was designed, developed and implemented. The effectiveness of the hybrid instruction in regard to students’ achievement, knowledge retention, attitudes towards the subject, and course satisfaction was evaluated in comparison to traditional classroom instruction. Experimental study with pre-test, post-test control group design was carried out. The sample of the study consisted of 50 university students enrolled in “Computer Networks and Communication” course. The control and experimental groups composed of 24 and 26 students respectively, and the experiment lasted 14 weeks. The findings of the study indicated no significant difference between the hybrid course and the traditional course in students’ achievement, knowledge retention, satisfaction, and attitude.     

How teachers integrate a math computer game: Professional development use,teaching practices,and student achievement

As more attention is placed on designing digital educational games to align with schools' academic aims (e.g., Common Core), questions arise regarding how professional development (PD) may support teachers' using games for instruction and how such integration might impact students' achievement. This study seeks to (a) understand how teachers use PD resources (e.g., technology personnel and game‐use workshops) for integration; (b) determine how teachers integrate games into their instruction; and (c) examine how those teaching practices are associated with student achievement. This mixed method study used survey and interview responses from elementary school teachers (n = 863) with access to PD resources for implementing a math game intervention and standardized math‐test scores from their second‐ through sixth‐grade students (n = 10,715). Findings showed few teachers sought PD assistance for integration, but many desired such support. Some reported using integrative practices (i.e., referencing game and using game‐generated progress reports) to identify struggling students, whereas several found integration challenging. Teachers' reordering of game objectives to align with lessons and viewing of game‐based PD videos were associated with increased student math achievement in our OLS‐analysis. However, this result was no longer statistically significant within a school fixed‐effects model, suggesting school differences may influence how strongly teachers' practices are associated with student achievement.     

The Library Course Page and Instruction: Perceived Helpfulness and Use among Students

Research guides can be divided largely into guides on particular subjects—subject guides—and guides tailored to the specific needs of courses—course pages. Recent studies indicate that online research guides are generally not helpful to college students unless the guides are linked to a course, either by being a course page or by being accompanied by an instruction session with the librarian. In this article, we report the findings of a study where students in a medium–sized (25 student), upper–division business course were asked about the helpfulness of a course page, the helpfulness of the librarian's accompanying instruction session, and how much they used the page. The student survey used mostly Likert scale questions. The study also reports on the course page's link traffic. Our results confirm earlier findings that a course page used in conjunction with librarian instruction is an effective tool to enhance student research. There were no control groups, and all respondents received both course page and instruction session. Seventy–one percent of the respondents indicated that the course page helpfulness ranged between “somewhat” and “very helpful,” and less than 10% of respondents said that they would not recommend a course page to other classes. Link traffic results indicate that neither a business subject guide nor a legal subject guide would have been as helpful to the respondents. These results support the argument that course pages should be preferred to subject guides when feasible.