Comparing evaluative models for computer assisted instruction delivered by microcomputer in B.C. elementary schools
Date
1981
Authors
Green, Reginald Bruce
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Abstract
A study of the implementation of computer assisted instruction (CAI) delivered with microcomputers was undertaken, with special reference to approaches used to evaluate the lessons or courseware run on the microcomputer in elementary schools of B.C.
A model for identifying and describing the important features of courseware had been developed by the JEM research team, a group resĀponsible for co-ordinating the first large scale introduction of microcomputers into the British Columbia school system. Since the teachers' requirements for courseware evaluation were not precisely known, a sample of 12 elementary school teachers experienced in the use of microcomputers was surveyed to assess their needs, and to determine to what extent the present system was meeting them.
It was hypothesized that if evaluations developed from the JEM evaluation model were meeting the informational needs of elementary classroom teachers, then there would be no difference between the evaluation information derived from the model and evaluation information considered important by teachers.
It was discovered that not all the information that teachers considered important was being provided by the JEM evaluation model, although it did serve several important functions. The teachers found the JEM courseware evaluations to be helpful in the selection of suitable courseware, and the courseware most highly recommended by the JEM analysts was also the courseware most used by the teachers.
An eclectic evaluation model was developed to extend and refine the JEM model. Teachers' judgments were incorporated into the evaluation process to provide a more complete and balanced evaluation product.