Basic Research on the Pedagogy of Automated Instruction

Abstract

In this chapter we argue for the importance of basic research on the pedagogy of automated instruction, and outline a relevant research project currently underway at the Armstrong Laboratory. The goal of the project is to delineate general principles as well as specific guidelines for developers of automated instruction. The project seeks to contribute to knowledge of automated instruction in the following four ways. First, we are supporting the development and use of a task-decomposition taxonomy to promote and support synthesis of results across studies. Second, we are developing a set of standard criterion tasks that will allow benchmarked comparisons of instructional approaches. Third, we are developing automated instructional systems, including Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS), based on formal theories of knowledge and skill acquisition. Fourth, we are rigorously evaluating these instructional systems in a controlled laboratory setting. In this chapter, we briefly describe this approach to conducting basic research on automated instruction, and then present three examples of research findings from our laboratory: (a) An alternative approach to using computer resources in training environments that, for certain classes of tasks, quadruples the number of trainees that may be trained with fixed training resources; (b) An inexpensive instructional intervention that significantly reduces or eliminates the post-training gender gap in performance of a highly spatial, complex dynamic control task; and (c) A simple, inexpensive intervention that reduces post-training error rates by 50% and performance latency by 33% in a procedural console operation task. We conclude by briefly discussing the implications of these findings for developers of automated instruction.