A COMPARISON OF LESSON STRUCTURES

To illustrate the ways in which lesson structures were observed to change when CAL was introduced, we will look in so m e d e t a i l at the w o r k of four of the t e a c h e r s involved in this study. (These are Teachers 1 to 4 mentioned earlier.) These teachers are felt to be representative of those observed and their schools, between them, have the full range of pupils.

The introduction of the micro produced differences in the lesson stuctures which were apparent at all levels, not only for different teacher/class combinations but also for the same combination in differing settings. While each teacher showed his/her own individual bias towards a particular style, they all modified that style to suit the prevailing circumstances.

Changes at the Activity Level

A comparison of the proportion of time spent in individual and small group work in the three basic lesson types - 'CAL', 'Theory' and 'Practical' - revealed a striking change in lesson structure. Introducing CAL into an o t h e r w i s e t h e o r y - b a s e d l e sson a p p e a r e d to i n c r e a s e significantly the amount of small group or individual work. Table 4.1 compares the percentage of time devoted to individual or small group work in a series of lessons given by the four teachers.

Teacher _CAL Lesson ty] _Theory De _{Pract ical}

1 75 20 63

2 73 26 58

3 31 0 47

4 55 3 36

Table 4.1

Percentage of Time in Individual or Small Group Work X2 = 30.9 p < .001

The table shows that, in any particular lesson category, there was a wide variation in the time allotted to small group work by the different teachers. This was seen as being a reflection of the preferred teaching style of the

individual teacher. Also, as one might expect, for any individual teacher, there was much less small group work in 'theory' lessons than in 'practical' lessons. More significantly, the figures for the 'CAL' lessons were, in

all cases, much closer to the figures for 'practical' lessons than to those of 'theory' lessons.

This similarity becomes potentially more significant when one considers that most of the topics dealt with in the observed 'CAL' lessons would otherwise have been covered in 'theory' lessons. For example, three of the lessons used a s i m u l a t i o n of the C o n t a c t P r o c e s s for the m a n u f a c t u r e of s u l p h u r i c acid, a n o t h e r use d a g a m e intended to teach the ideas underlying the formation of chemical formulae and yet another used a simulation of various 'rates of reaction' experiments, some of which could not be perfo r m e d in the school laboratory. All of the teachers involved felt that the use of a computer to replace or enhance a 'theory' lesson was beneficial: the teachers said "it makes it [the theory] more r e a l ” and "they can try different ideas out for themselves" and "they really get a feel for how it works".

The increase in time spent in individual or small group work in 'CAL' lessons, compared with 'theory' lessons, seems to support the view that the computer can change the role of the teacher and allow him/her to move round the class in a supportive role: giving advice and help, prompting new ideas and checking the understanding of e s t a b l i s h e d c o n c e p t s . W h e n 'practical' lessons are compared with 'theory' lessons, they also show a higher percentage of time spent in individual or small group work, possibly for similar reasons - once the practical task has been explained, the teacher is, again, freed from the role of task-setter.

There is also a significant change in the type of activity taking place in the three types of lesson. Task-related pupil-pupil dialogue was virtually absent in the 'theory1 lessons, whereas it played a significant part in both 'CAL' and 'practical' lessons. This, again, is seen as a result of the changed structure of the lesson and as indicative of a move away from a traditional teacher- centred approach towards a more informal pupil-centred structure.

Changes at the Episode Level

Differences are also apparent at the episode level, where in most cases the SCAN records show a greater number of (shorter) episodes in lessons involving CAL or practical work. Table 4.2 shows the average length (in minutes) of the episodes in which the teacher participated for the same series of lessons used for the previous table.

Teacher _CAL Lesson ty _Theory pe _{Pract ical}

1 1.9 3.0 1.6

2 3.3 5.0 3.1

3 1.8 2.8 2.6

4 2.5 3.0 3.3

Table 4.2

Average Length of Episodes (in minutes) X2 = 31.34 p < .001

The changes in the length and number of episodes reflect the differences in the structure of the various lesson types. Both the increase in small group work and the a l l e v i a t i o n of the t e acher's role of t a s k - s e t t e r encourage the teacher to move from one group to another, discussing specific problems and strategies with each individual or group.

The nature of the episodes themselves is also changed with, for e x a m p l e , the n u m b e r of 'explaining' and 'initiating' episodes being reduced, while the n u m b e r of episodes of 'coaching' and, within a group of pupils, of 'arguing' or 'searching' is increased. Indeed, the SCAN records show that, for small group work activities in lessons involving CAL, 'coaching' forms the basis of the great majority of teacher-initiated episodes.

With the increase in group-work, there is inevitably an increase in pupil-led episodes and, for much of the time, the majority of pupils in the class are not directly controlled by the teacher: they are in control of their own learning and able to make decisions which materially affect the outcome of the episode. This represents a marked change from the conventional view of school lessons and must be seen as one of the ways in which the use of CAL can change teaching and learning strategies. These changes will be illustrated later, in the discussion of individual lessons.

Changes at the Event Level

Changes also occur at the most detailed level recorded in the SCAN - the event or remark level. Table 4.3 shows the proportion of some different question types used by Teacher 2, with a third-year middle-band chemistry group, for lessons with and without the use of CAL.

Ratio of Ql Depth of Demand C C : j? lestion Types Level of Guidance 1 : 2 CAL used 1.1 : 1 0.7 : 1

CAL not used 3.7 : 1 1.8 : 1

Table 4.3

Differences in Question Types

The figures q u o t e d in Table 4.3 cannot s a f e l y be generalised as there are too many factors which may influence c h a n g e s b e t w e e n one lesson and another. However, seven out of the ten teachers observed for this study showed similar trends in their use of questions, two showed no marked change and one reversed the trend, using more closed, less demanding questions when CAL was in use. While it seems likely that CAL is one of the factors influencing question-style, its influence may be variable, depending on the style of the program and the way in which it is used by the teacher.

Other changes found to occur at the event level were seen as a direct result of the changes in lesson stucture at the episode and activity level. Perhaps most noticeable was the simple reduction in the proportion of teacher-led events: in a group-work situation the teacher could only work with one group amongst many, so pupil-led events were a l m o s t c e r t a i n to p r e d o m i n a t e . The s a m e w a s not necessarily true of individual work, where teacher control of the events was often as complete as in an exposition to the whole class, 'Ew', activity. This will be discussed in detail later (pp 161-170).

There were, however, a number of more subtle, tactical changes taking place in the detail of the teacher's actions. There was a marked tendency for the teacher to be less directive, to use more general examples and to make suggestions rather than to give instructions. The pupils also responded to the changed circumstances by adopting different approaches to learning. These changes can most easily be exemplified by considering some individual lessons.