Measuring learning resource use (original) (raw)

1996, Computers & Education

Contact time is only part of a student's learnin8, especially in hiiOler education, and teachers and lab classes are only two of the resources students draw upon. Despite this, there is a prevalence of studies which appear to be evaluating a piece of conreeware in imlat/on. Lcarulng gains from a CAL packalle are important, but since acquisition and retention of knowiedle is really what is ultimately important and will depend on other learning experiences in the course, an additional question in any learning situation therefore i~ what resources is a student using? And, following up on that, which are most useful, are some bett~ than others, or do they complement each other in essential ways? This paper describes the dadsn and application of the Resource Questionnaire, the instrument we are developing in an attempt to gather information on the learning resources used by students. The remurees asked about may include not only lectures, tutorials end comzeware, but books, handouts, notes and discussions with other students. Some preliminm'y results are ¢hn~'ibed and the importan~ of this information to t~ching staff in asmsing and increasing the value of the resources to students by ensuring their effective integration into a course, is discussed. Copyrisht C 1996