Making Courseware Transparent: Beyond Initial Screening. Research on Evaluation Program Paper and Report Series No. 76

Abstract

This report describes a collection of procedures, with illustrative examples, for selecting and portraying microcomputer courseware in a manner that enables others to make their own judgments of courseware quality. Following a discussion of perspective and a report outline, section 3 deals with assumptions underlying the search to identify specific aspects of courseware form to illuminate. A fourth section describes the data sets selected as most relevant for the portrayal of courseware structure, and a rationale for the purpose of courseware structure portrayal and for specific portrayal content is provided in section 5. The sixth section presents three illustrative portrayal strategies for courseware criticism, including a mastery model analysis comparative table; a narrative of student courseware use with a flow chart of inferred courseware structure; and brief summary flow charts of two student paths and a simplified, inferred, author-designed path. Section 7 outlines a proposal for testing the effects of different kinds of portrayal, while section 8 presents an example of the use of an open-ended evaluation check list for conducting microcomputer courseware criticism. Appendices provide guidelines for structured observation of student paths through microcomputer courseware and a copy of the evaluation checklist with instructions included. A 15-item bibliography concludes the report. (ESR)