Comparative and non-comparative evaluation in Educational technology

Comparative & Non-Comparative Evaluation in Educational Technology

Dr. Alaa SadikDepartment of Instructional & Learning Technologies

[email protected]

April 2009

Comparative and Non-Comparative Evaluation in Educational Technology

Review of the literature shows that evaluation research in educational technology falls into four major categories:

Developmental studies Cost-benefit analysis studies Perception and performance studies Non-comparative studies


Developmental studies

The most common type of developmental studies is conducted to investigate the strengths and weakness of the design of technology (e.g., on-line environments).



The purpose of these studies is to suggest models to be followed in further development research.



Examples

The following examples compare the potential and benefits of on-line learning to traditional method.



Example A:

“The results revealed that most students favored the user-friendly design of the user interface and a straightforward navigation system. However, the major weakness was found in the design of discussion boards that require reading, jumping forward and back”.



Example B:

“Some students did not understand the concept of threading and posting to existing messages, and as a result, new threads were frequently incorrectly posted. This often made the direction of the discussion confusing”.



Example C:

“Students’ feedback and behavior in discussions emphasized the importance of instructor’s participation, the need to reduce the number of topics per forum and the need to prepare students to learn and interact on-line”.


Cost-benefit analysis of technology

The aim of these studies is to investigate the design elements that should be considered in costing the technology.



Examples

The following studies were conducted to analyze and compare the cost and evaluate the effectiveness of training courses provided in different formats (online, broadcasting, printed materials).



Example A:

“The results of cost-benefit analysis showed that although Web-based education seems to have higher fixed costs than the traditional campus, the cost per student was offset by lower variable”.



Example B:

“Compared to printed materials, there is a need to consider three variables in developing and delivering on-line courses. These variables are the number of students per course, multimedia objects in the content and the live presence of the instructor during delivery”.



Example C:

“Benefits include student/instructor satisfaction, increased access, flexibility and ease of use as well as other ‘value added’ benefits (e.g. reduce traffic and pollution and the potential of new market)”.


Learners’ perception and performance

A common area of evaluation aims to investigate the effectiveness of technology in students’ perception and learning outcomes, in comparison with traditional method.



Examples

The following examples investigate students’ perception toward online learning compared to traditional method.



Example A

“On-line learning could be as effective as traditional instruction, or better”



Example B

“The on-line course allowed students to be engaged in synchronous (chat) and asynchronous (e-mail and forums) interaction to communicate with the instructor and with each other”.



Example C

“the performance of on-line students was similar to that of those in the on-campus course”.


Non-comparative studies

Non-comparative studies examine factors that may be related to successful learning and students’ satisfaction or how students with different learning styles perform in a technology-based environment.



Examples

The purpose of the following study was to identify relationships among student learning styles, learning strategies, and achievement



Example A

“The results indicated that learning styles and student characteristics did not have an effect on students’ achievement in online courses”.



Example B

“students’ performances improved and were supported by the enhanced perception of the relevance of the practice and feedback, because students provided their own structure in the course and created their own interpersonal dialogue”.


Application

Summarizing a comparative study and non-comparative study and publishing them to blogger.com. Follow the guidelines provided by the tutor.

Comparative and non-comparative evaluation in Educational technology

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