As the name indicates, tutorials "tutor" students. Their function is similar to that of a teacher or textbook in explaining information or concepts to learners. The best computerized tutorials employ the strategy called branching programmed instruction. The computer provides information in small segments on the screen. Some of these segments prompt the learner for a response, and the computer's next step depends on this response. This next step could be to
The course of action taken by the tutorial would depend on the nature of the learner's response at each step.
Figure 2.1 shows two screens from a program that helps users learn to find the epicenter of an earthquake in the same way seismologists accomplish this task . The computer requires the learner to respond and then adapts its instruction according to the response. The same information could be presented in a textbook, but students often find that this computerized format is more motivating, focuses their attention more effectively, and provides interactive feedback.
The example in Figures 2.1 and 2.2 is taken from Virtual Earthquake, one of the programs presented by Geology Labs On-Line (http://vcourseware3.calstatela.edu/GeoLabs/index.html). After some introductory information, the learner has entered information in Figure 2.1 based on her reading of the time/distance chart shown to the left of the figure. Figure 2.2 shows that the learner was not far off, but she is given the option of going back and correcting her minor errors. When she is satisfied with her performance on this portion of the tutorial, she can continue with the tutorial by trying to determine the earthquake's strength on the Richter scale. If she wishes to do so, she can estimate epicenters and strengths for earthquakes in three other geographical locations. {You can run this tutorial yourself by clicking here.}
Figure 2.1. An introductory screen from a tutorial on finding the epicenters of earthquakes.
Figure 2.2. A screen showing feedback from a tutorial on finding the epicenters of earthquakes.
Fgure 2.3a shows an example of an online tutorial about Mendelian genetics. This tutorial seems to make the initial assumption that the student knows something about the topic. The student answers questions, and whenever the student misses a question there is an abundance of remedial/corrective information and additional resources (as shown in Figure 2.3b).
Fgure 2.3a. A screen from an online tutorial about Mendelian genetics.
Fgure 2.3b. A follow-up to the screen shown in Figure 2.3a.
The most obvious way to improve substantially on this strategy would be to permit the student to seek information before responding. After all, why should a learner be required to make a mistake before seeking the information needed to solve a problem? And isn't it possible that a learner might guess correctly or get the answer right based on a misconception, and therefore miss an opportunity to learn the correct information?
The field of genetics provides an example of a significant pattern in the development of tutorials. Software develops in areas where it is needed and appreciated. Several years ago, there were several examples of good genetics tutorials, but none of them were available online. For example, The Morgan Tutorial from Rutgers gives...
Some of the best tutorials are designed to teach learners how to use computer hardware or software. Figure 2.3 shows a series of screens from Professor Multimedia, which provides an introduction to the use of multimedia (which is discussed in chapter 9 of this book). A person running this program can easily understand the concepts and practice using multimedia tools; and this hands-on approach is viewed by most users as far superior to learning the skills by reading manuals that typically accompany computer programs. The program prompts the learner to perform specified skills (such as clicking on appropriate items or using proper keystroke combinations to accomplish tasks). If the learner fails to perform the skill, the computer gives feedback and continues to prompt the learner to perform the skill correctly. It is virtually impossible to complete this program without developing a basic understanding of how to use the specified multimedia tools correctly.
NEW EXAMPLE NEEDED
Although computers can and should include branching, not many of the tutorials we have seen actually accomplish this task. At best, most of them use hypertext strategies (discussed in chapter 9) to permit the learner to voluntarily choose where he or she will go next in the computerized presentation. For example, Figure 2.4 shows a series of screens from a tutorial that teaches students how computers work. Instead of reading a book from beginning to end, students choose topics that are of immediate interest and pursue those topics. By making selections from menus and clicking on "hot words," the learner is easily able to branch to new or related topics as the need dictates. This type of tutorial has the advantage of delivering information in the order in which students need or want it. On the other hand, few tutorials actually take full advantage of the computer's capabilities by requiring students to respond and then branching them automatically to information that will help them overcome learning deficiencies.
Figure 2.5 shows a series of screens from a tutorial designed to teach students about weather fronts. The first screen presents a piece of information about fronts, the second obtains input from the student, the third provides remedial information to enable the student to understand the concept correctly, and the fourth asks another question to see if the student has finally mastered the concept.
Superficially, the program shown in Figure 2.5 may appear to provide an ideal medium for teaching about weather fronts. A closer look at the program reveals some significant problems, however. The four screens shown are the only four screens dealing with this specific concept. All the third screen does is rephrase in a more precise manner with a better screen layout what the first screen originally said. One might ask why the first screen was not clear and precise in the first place. And, what happens if the learner still does not understand the concept? In this program, the computer reverts to the first screen after a second failure and continues to alternate between the first and third screens if the learner continues to make errors. Actually, not many learners will continue to make errors because the second and fourth screens also appear repeatedly. Thus a learner who does not understand the concept is likely to try a different response and get credit for a right answer. We have seen many students reach the end of this entire program with no understanding whatsoever of weather fronts.
Figure 2.5 showed screens from a weak tutorial (which is outdated and is no longer marketed). Figures 2.1 through 2.4 showed screens from stronger tutorials. A comparison of these suggests what a good tutorial should look like. Most importantly, a good tutorial should be well organized and should have some major advantages over a book. For example, a computerized tutorial can provide immediate and interactive feedback, which is often difficult to supply in a written format. Moreover, a computerized tutorial may include animated graphics, photographs, sound, and the like, which would be impossible in a book. And finally, by presenting one screen at a time, the computer can sometimes focus attention more precisely on a single concept. On the other hand, computerized tutorials sometimes display disadvantages compared to books. Unless the tutorial is extremely well designed, for example, the learner may find it easier to move backward and forward in the written text. If something on page 145 reminds you of something on page 137, it is an easy matter to flip back for a quick check - but most computer programs do not permit this. Furthermore, sometimes the screen is not big enough to contain all the information needed to present an important idea, and segmenting the concept onto separate screens becomes incoherent or at least distracting.
The development of authoring programs that apply hypertext strategies (discussed in Chapter 9) has begun to improve the quality of computerized tutorials. Figure 2.6 shows examples of HyperCard programs written by classroom teachers to supplement instruction. The teachers who designed these programs say that one of their major uses is to offer them to students who have missed class sessions when the topics were covered or who would like an opportunity to review material before a test. Note that both of these programs permit access to visual materials (not shown here) stored on laserdiscs.
(Screens from 2 HyperCard programs.)
In actual practice, people apply the term more loosely. Having made our case for eloquent and effective tutorials, we now hasten to add that in the real world of computerized education, there are almost no tutorials that do all the things that we have claimed a good tutorial should be able to do. In fact, most programs that are labeled "tutorials" really fall into one of the following two categories:
- Drills which the author or publishers have chosen to glorify by calling them tutorials.
- Page turning programs, where the learners do little or no interacting with the computer. These are essentially the same presentation that a learner would receive from a pamphlet, leaflet, or other written material or audiovisual material, but they are conveniently available via computer.
The fact that these materials do not fit the strict criteria for tutorials does not make them examples of "bad" instruction. Our only point here is that there is a difference between (1) helping learners interactively acquire new information and (2) enabling them to practice that information or to acquire it in a non-interactive manner; and many people who use the term "tutorial" seem to be unaware of this distinction.
The Math Archives purport to have a page of tutorials at http://archives.math.utk.edu/tutorials.html, but what we find at that site is a large list of anything that teachers can reasonably think of using to teach mathematics. This use of the term "tutorial" to refer to "anything that might teach something" seems to be playing fast and loose with the terminology; but it is fairly common.
In fact, it is safe to assume that when the term tutorial is used on the Internet the label almost never means what we have described in this chapter. We entered "tutorial" into a search off the World Wide Web using Metacrawler, and we found no sites that used branching instruction or individualized feedback as important components.
The best of the sites that call themselves tutorials (which are often pretty good) simply use a hypertext format (discussed later in chapter 8) to enable users to zero in most effectively on the information they want on a topic. For example, Figure 2.x shows the introductory screen to the UC Berkeley Library's Tutorial on Finding Information on the Internet. A library patron who clicks on any highlighted (underlined) item would go directly to another submenu and eventually to specific information that would address that user's specific needs.
Figure 2.x. Part of the Table of Contents from the UC Berkeley Library's Tutorial on Finding Information on the Internet.
Other items that are often labeled "tutorials" include step-by-step sets of instructions and FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). These have little advantage over regular text materials, except that (1) if they are online they are likely to be updated recently &endash; often in response to user criticism of earlier response, and (2) they are often conveniently available on the Internet through search engines and efficient menus.
Perhaps one of the most common yet effective uses of tutorial strategies are the help screens that are incorporated into comprehensive software packages. For example, the author is writing the present paragraph with Microsoft Word. By clicking on Help and following a set of simple prompts, the author gets a set of instructions (Figure 2.y) that can remain on the screen while he tries to resolve his problem (in this case, using italics correctly). In some cases, the program gives additional graphic prompts &endash; as by circling in red the icons or commands that the user must implement.
Figure 2.y. A help screen from Microsoft Word. Sometimes these help screens "tutor" the user by walking him/her through all the steps necessary to accomplish a particular task.
We would prefer to apply the term tutorial to any systematic package of instruction that is designed to supply new instruction or at least to enable the learner to learn while reviewing previous instruction. This would differentiate tutorials from drills (which give the learner the opportunity to practice what was previously learned) and simulations (which enable the learner to experience in an imaginary or artificial manner something that would otherwise be impossible to experience). We feel that this distinction is useful.
Even within this correct definition, however, tutorials vary widely in what they acccomplish and how they attempt to carry out their instruction. In our discussion of tutorials we have described the ideal tutorial - one with branching, looping, corrective feedback, and all the bells and whistles that can possibly facilitate instruction. In actual practice, any program that attempts to supply new instruction can be referred to as a tutorial. In other words, tutorials can range from simple on-line pamphlets that supply information on a topic or guidelines for using a search engine to sophisticated forms of programmed instruction. Indeed, sometimes a program can be a very good program even though it has no bells and whistles - it may just supply good information in a format that can be accessed when it is needed.
For example, many excellent tutorials that teach beginners how to use the Internet have little branching, feedback, or any of the other features we have described as comprising the ideal tutorial. "All" they do is explain to confused beginners what the Internet is all about and how to navigate through the World Wide Web. They are really nothing more than glorified booklets - but they have the advantage of being conveniently available online and being able to be updated as new changes occur in the way the Internet functions. They often permit users to try out what they have learned, by going directly to web sites that are cited withing the program. Hence a program like Beginner's Central (pictured in Figure 2.a) fills a real need, even though it includes few of the unique features that the computer can potentially offer in a tutorial.
Figure 2.a. An infroductory screen from Beginner's Central, a tutorial on Internet Usage.
The Basic Principles of Genetics does a superb job of introducing Mendel's basic concepts in a way that could not be duplicated in a lecture or textbook, but it takes advantage of only a few of the strategies that could be incorporated into a full-fledged, "ideal," computerized tutorial. Likewise, CyberEd's Mendel's Principles of Heredity (Figure 2.x) does an excellent job of focusing student attention on key concepts (promoting selective attention) without implementing much automatic branching or other forms of interacting recommended in this chapter. Programs of this kind will be effective to the extent that students using them engage in active, generative learning. If they are strongly motivated and understand how to use their computers effectively, they can often do this alone or in small groups. In other cases, more direct teacher supervision and stimulation will be necessary to make these programs an effective part of generative learning.
Figure 2.x. A screen from CyberEd's Mendel's Principles of Heredity.
The next few years will witness the development of a strategy called intelligent tutoring or intelligent computer-assisted instruction (ICAI). This technique applies elements of artificial intelligence to programmed instruction via computer. The tutorial actively seeks out the student's misconceptions and provides information that will improve the student's understanding. A more detailed description of the components of ICAI can be found at http://train.galaxyscientific.com/icaipage/icaitap/icaitap.htm.
A good example of this strategy is a program called Mendel which tutors high school and college students on various aspects of genetics.
Mendel is both a problem-solving simulation and an intelligent tutorial. In the first of Mendel 's roles, the computer presents the learner with problems to solve while using the computer as a tool to conduct experiments and collect or interpret data. In its second role, Mendel assumes the role of a human tutor:
Students running Mendel have an experience much the same as if they were working a series of problems with sophisticated calculation tools and a human tutor were seated beside them with comprehensive knowledge of how to solve the problem and a willingness to help whenever needed. The development of this program is described in greater detail in Streibel and others (1987). Similar programs can be developed in other areas where the computer can be programmed to solve a problem and then check to see how closely its solution compares to that of a human learner.
Another interesting development in tutorials during the next several years will be programmed instruction via computerized interactive laserdisc or compact disk technology. These disks can hold a vast amount of information, including still pictures or diagrams, moving pictures, text, and sound. This information can be accessed almost instantly by a properly programmed computer. CD-ROM and interactive laserdisc technology has the potential to provide the combined advantages of the computer, the textbook, and the film in a single instructional package. CD-ROM or laserdisc technology could improve upon the program shown in Figure 2.4, for example, by presenting several well-designed film sequences showing various aspects of the weather, with the capacity to replay absolutely any sequence immediately - even in slow motion. It would be possible to ask learners questions about the filmed sequence and permit them to seek help from the disk before answering these questions. If the student gives a wrong answer, the computer could replay a previous sequence or provide additional information to clarify the topic. Figure 2.6 shows an example of a program that uses interactive video in this way. Similar applications are available in many other areas of education.
NEW EXAMPLE NEEDED
Actually, there are not many outstanding computerized tutorials on the market. There are two main reasons for this scarcity. First, it is difficult and costly to write a good tutorial with appropriate branching routines. In the program shown in Figure 2.4, for instance, a much wider range of screens would be necessary to guide some learners to a proper understanding of the concept of weather fronts. Second, think of the amount of computer time that would have to be devoted to covering each unit of instruction. If there are thirty students in a class and each one takes fifteen minutes to run the weather unit, then a single computer would be tied up for seven and a half hours for this one small application. Most teachers could think of more efficient ways to cover this topic.
Even if you do not use pure tutorial programs to deliver instruction, you are likely to encounter good drills and simulations that have significant tutorial components. Instead of trying to write an entire program to teach a concept as a self-contained unit, many publishers are developing programs that anticipate students' misconceptions and provide remediation at the precise time it is needed - for example, when the student gives an incorrect answer to a question. Figure 2.7 shows a series of screens from a program designed to teach the importance of regrouping as a memory strategy. The learner tries to remember a series of items. Whenever the learner fails, the computer demonstrates an effective strategy for regrouping information in order to recall it more accurately.
NEW EXAMPLE NEEDED
The following questions will help you evaluate and select tutorial software:
- Does the program use branching program instruction effectively?
- Does the program require the learner's active interaction?
- Does the program provide accurate, immediate, and informative feedback for learner responses?
- Does the program permit the learner to control the rate at which he or she must respond?
- Does the program use graphics, sound, or animation to draw attention to important pieces of information?
- Does the program focus on one concept at a time by using screen space effectively?
- When all the needed information does not fit on a single screen, does the program distribute it effectively over several screens?
- Does the program permit the learner to back up to reexamine previous screens?
- Does the program provide appropriate help screens?
- Does the program use correct language, spelling, and grammar?
- Does the program contain accurate and complete information about the concepts under consideration?
- Does the program structure the information in a logically appropriate and pedagogically sound manner?
- Does the program attempt to identify and remediate the student's misconceptions?
- Is it easy to integrate the software with other computerized or noncomputerized instructional materials available to the learner?
- Does the program present information in learning styles compatible with those of the learner?
These questions should be considered in the context of the preceding discussion. It is not possible to give a point value to each question and conclude that the piece of software with the highest total point value is the best tutorial. Rather, keep in mind the precise role the tutorial will play in a unit of instruction. If you plan to use a program as enrichment for the 10 percent of your students who are likely to complete a unit more quickly than the rest of the class, your requirements for the software are different than if you expect the whole class to run the program. Likewise, not all tutorials can be adapted to the learning styles of all students. But by having a variety of tutorials compatible with various learning styles, the teacher can select appropriate programs for specific students.
Here are some more examples of tutorials. Click on a title to go to that tutorial or to see a description of the tutorial, or skip them and go on to the next section of this chapter:
A tutorial on using the Internet effectively.Virtual Dating. {Using radiocarbon to date archeological artifacts.}
The Basic Principles of Genetics
Tutorials for Web Developers
Mathematics Tutorials
Collapse: Why Do Civilizations Fall?
Nail It Now Tutorials on Computer Usage
Tutorials
Intelligent
Tutoring Systems: An Historic Review in the Context of the
Development of Artificial Intelligence and Educational Psychology
by Mark Urban-Lurain
http://web.cps.msu.edu/~urban/ITS.htm
This article describes the development of tutoring systems that can (1) modularize the curriculum, (2) customize it for different student populations, (3) individualize the presentation and assessment of the content, and (4) collect data which instructors could use to tutor and remediate students.
AI on the Web
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~russell/ai.html
This is a comprehensive set of links, which includes some really sophisticated stuff. But some of it is useful even to naive beginners with a genuine interest.
Click here to go to the next section of this chapter.