Generative aspects of the Computer Based Educational Software System (CBESS)

Abstract

A system of computer-based instruction (CBI) authoring and delivery tools was developed in whichgenerativeCEtItechniques wereusedtodynamicallycreateinstructionalpresentationsfromcontent databases during program execution. Three applications using these techniques are examined with regard to trade-offs between ease of development and limitations imposed by program specificity: 1) A semantic network was used to represent large bodies of terse facts to be memorized.lhe need for authors to create large numbers of question screens was avoided by a feature enabling questions and foils to be generated on-the-fly from database assertions as the student programs ran. 2) Technical vocabulary training was accomplished with a generative approach in which an array of student learning activities were automatically generated from a database minimally consisting of technical terms and their definitions.3) A more difficult program allowed greater interface and lesson control flexibility for creating more sophisticated practice lessons in which new instances were dynamically inserted into templates for questions, anticipatedanswersandfeedback.Acommonapplicationthemeemerging~omfield-testingtheprograms was their use in learning resource centers to address specific learning objectives from larger courses.

A Theory of Effective Computer-Based Instruction for Adults

“…Current computing environments allow for a wide range of generative learning strategies to be incorporated into courseware (Jonassen, 1988). Generative learning models suggest that meaningful learning results when the learner actively and consciously relates prior knowledge to new material and creates understandings based on theses relationships (Wittrock, 1974(Wittrock, , 1978Wetzel, 1993). The role of instruction is to support activities and strategies that learners may use to generate meaning, and even supply mechanisms for the learner if they are unable to do their own.…”