(b) If correct , the f lash ing ***IS RIGHT*** con f irmation and "HAPPY FACE" sub rout ine s were displayed on the sc reen . The p rogramme then advanced t o the next training sequence and f o llowed an identical set of procedure s to those outl ined in the ab ove s t eps .
( c) I f the subj ect was wrong , the error mes sage ***NO , TRY AGAIN *** and " SAD FACE" were d isplayed . Th e programme then
b ran ched back to the fading routine in Step 5 .
By de f aul t , the pro gramme automat ically advanced to the nex t t raining sequence when a maximum of 9 a t t emp t s were comple ted or whenever a target word was s e lected from a compl e t e l is t . Prec isely the s ame procedures were followed for e a ch of the 2 prac t ice and 8 training words contained in a t raining modu le .
of Indiv idual Ins t ruct ion
In order to provide a meaningful framework for comparing computer based instruct ion with more conventional int erpersonal methods of tuit ion , comp l em�ntary programmes were devised to te ach wor d recogn i t ion by mean s of ind ividual in st ruct ion . E s sent ially the procedures used by teachers were ident ical to those presented by the microcomputer . One maj or excep
tion was that flash cards and pho tographs were used to present the s t im ulus material rather than the v ideo and s l i de displays employed with the computer sys tem . Ano ther d i f f erence can be seen in terms of the amount
of verbal in teract ion whi ch , desp ite s t andardisation of ins truct ions and f eedb a c k , was natural ly greater in the interpersona l s itua t ion . Notwi th stand ing these pra c t ical d i f f erences , every at temp t was made to ensure that the ind ividual teaching procedures paralleled tho se of the CAI pro grammes with regard to type of verb a l informat ion , presentat ion of mat er ials , and sequence of instru c t ion .
As with the computer a s s isted inst ruction , two programmes were devised to teach word recogn i tion by means of the errorless dis crimina tion ( word only) and paired associate ( p i cture-word) method s . Following is a descript ion o f the pre c ise sequence used in the two experimental methods for teach ing each of the target words :
1 . Errorless Discrimination ( ED)
A f l as h c ard disp l aying the word t o be t augh t is f i rs t presented and ve rbally i d ent if ied by the teacher . Over a series of four trials , the teacher at t emp ted to shape a correct respons e by having the subj ect point to the target word in the presence of other dis trac ter it ems . Each trial was intend ed to provide a s ligh tly more comp lex discrimina tion . Compar i s on s t imul i are ini tially ve ry dissimilar but eventually become s imilar to the t arget word w i th only sub t le d i f f erences between the words or word- l ike configurat ions . An example of the four trials used for teaching one of the prac tice i tems is presented be low :
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4
? ? ? IN BUS STOP BINOCULAR
BUS STOP AT DANGER BUS STOP
? ? ? BUS STOP RAILWRI BIRDHOUSE
? ? ? ON COFFEE BLAMELESS
Placemen t of th e i t ems for each trial was random . Incorrec t respons es res u l ted in the removal of dis tracters until the target word was
corr e c t ly ident i f i ed . A maximum of 9 attempts for each trial was provided . The precise s equence of ins truc tions were as fol lows :
Individual Errorless Dis c r imination
1 - Presen t at ion of Word
( a) The examine r ( E) p res ented a f lashcard cont aining the word to be t aught .
(b) E p rovided a verb al label for the wo rd : "This s ay s "Now you s ay
f ive seconds . 2 - Trial 1
" The target word was disp layed for
"
( a) F lashcards cont aining the target wo rd and three d is tract ers f or trial 1 are randomly p res ented . These are p l aced out vert ically on a desk dire c t ly in f ront of the t rainee .
(b) E s ays , "Now you point to 1 1
( c) The s ubj ect responds by point ing to a cho s en i tem .
( d ) I f the subj ect was correc t , then E provided verb a l f eed- b a ck ( e . g . "Good" , "Okay " ) and advanced to trial 2 as d e s c r ibed in S tep 4 .
3 - Error Routine
( a) I f the subj ect fai led t o poin t to the correct target word then E s aid , "Let ' s try again . " All f lash cards were re moved f rom the t able .
(b) Presentation of target word plus 2 d i s t racters . The dis t r a c ter selec ted by mis t ake is removed ( f aded out) for this presentation .
( c) I f the subj ect is correct , then E provides neu tral verbal feedback ( e . g . Good , Okay) . Then the c omplete lis t com p r i s ing the targe t word and 3 d i s t rac ters are again randomly presented . An additional verbal message is given at this point : "Point t o "
( d ) I f wrong on ( b ) above , neutral verbal f eedback was given :
"Let ' s try again" . Continued errors cause the remaining d i s tractor ( s ) to be removed one at a t ime unt i l only the t ar get word is d isp layed . Then the subj ect is g iven ano ther attemp t at the complete l is t . The cards are re mov ed from the table following each presenta tion and then randomly placed in preparat ion for the next a t t emp t .
Due to practical l imitations and avai l able t ime , subj ects
were allowed a maximum of 9 attemp ts on each trial . This
included a total of 3 a t t empts at the complete lis t ,
f o l lowing which the examiner advanced to the next trial .
4 - Trial 2
( a) Tr ial 2 cards are presented by E . Thes e con tain a s ligh t ly mo re comp lex d is crimination ; the i t em to be iden t i f ied plus
3 d is trac ters p lac ed in a random order . E s ays , "Point to "
(b) I f correc t , then E provided verba l conf irma t ion . E advanced the s ubj e c t to t r ial 3 .
( c) I f wrong , then E provided verbal feedb ack ( e . g . "Let ' s
try again") and removed the card s . The error f ad ing rout ine in s tep 3 was followed unt i l a correct response was illicited . A maximum of 9 a t temp t s . including 3 tr ies a t the complet e l i s t are provided .
5 - Trial 3
( a) T ri al 3 c ards were presented by E . This required a moderately d i f f icult discriminat ion b e tween the target word and 3 dis trac ters , all o f approximately the same
word length . E s ays , "Point to "
(b) I f correct , then E provid ed verbal c onf irmation . The
( c) If wrong , then E provided verbal f e edback ( "No , Let ' s try again . ") and removed the cards . The error fad ing rout ine in step 3 was fol lowed untiJ a correct res ponse was made by the subj ect from a c omplete l i s t of words .
6 - Tri a l 4
(a) The fourth and f inal t r ial was presented by E . This contained a very compl ex d iscrimination in wh ich the target word and 3 d i s t r ac tor i tems had the same beginning let ter and were a l l of app roximat e ly the same word l ength .
E said , "Point to "
( b ) If correc t , then E prov ided verb al conf irmat ion and ad vanced the subj e c t to the nex t training word .
( c) If wrong , the error fad ing procedures des cribed in S t ep
3 were followed . On a t taining a maximum of 9 a t t empts the subj ect was advanced t o the nex t t raining item .
The s ame sequence o f ins tru c t ion was us ed for the two pract ice i t ems and e igh t target words . A maximum of 360 attemp ts were pos s ib le though advancement through the programme could be rapid when correct responses were made . Four trials f o r each o f the 1 0 words results in a total of 40 trials for each sess ion .
2 . Paired Associate (PAL)
A p icture an9 correspond ing word are presented s imultaneous ly
in an at t emp t to teach respons es to the printed word by repeat ed
pairings w i th a familiar pic ture . In this c as e , the p i c ture s erves as an add it ional promp t that remains in view during the entire training s equence . The paired associate i t ems each contained two elements :
( 1 ) a s t imulus element (p icture) p resented in h igh quality colour
pho tograph s , and ( 2 ) a respons e e l ement (word) d isplay ed on a flashcard us ing uppe r cas e le tters . Four t r ials were p r esented to t each each of
the 8 target words . Add i t ionally , 2 prac tice i t ems were included for
d emons trat ion at the b eginning of each sess ion . Each t r ial b ecame progress ively more d i f f icult as the subj ect was required to select a
target wor d from a lis t of i t ems . An add i tional d is tractor was added
to each cons ecut ive trial :
e . g . Trial 1 BUS STOP Trial 2 BUS STOP RAILWAY Trial 3 RAILWAY BUS STOP HAMMER Trial 4 HAMMER RAILWAY BUS STOP ENTRANCE
Th e t arget word and d i s trac ter i t ems were placed ver tically and a t random o n a desk i n front of the subj ec t . Incorrect respons es resu l ted in the removal of dis tractor ( s ) on which a mis take was made until the target wor d was correc tly iden t i f i ed . Following is the ins truc tional s equence f or each wo rd taugh t :
Ind ividual Paired Associate
1 - Presentation o f Word and Pic ture
( a) E presen ted a pho tograph and said , "Th is shows "
(b) E then presented a f lashcard containing the target word
and said , "This word says " "Now you s ay "
The targe t word was displayed for f ive seconds and then removed while the referent pho tograph remained in view during th e ent ire s equence .
2 - Trial 1
( a) E presen ted the target word say ing , "Now you point to (b) The subj e c t res ponded by point ing to the target word . No
d istrac t ers were presented for Trial 1 . Verbal conf irm ation was given by E ( e . g . "Okay " , "Good") .
3 - Trial 2
(a) Trial 2 c ards are presented by E . This cons is ted of the target word and 1 d istracter selected at random from a
pool of 3 i t ems for that tiral . E said , "Point to " (b) If the s ubj ect is c orrect , then E provides v erbal f eedback
( e . g . "Good" , "Okay " ) . Then the subj ect is advanced to Trial 3 .
( c) I f wrong , then E provided verbal feedback ( e . g . "Try
again") and removed the 2 cards . The error f ad ing rou t ine was followed by r emoving the d i s trac ter and presenting
the target word alone . Following this , the dis trac ter
was again introduce d until the subj ect could correc t ly iden t i fy the targ e t word .
4 - Error Rout ine
(a) If the subj e c t f a il ed to point to the correct target word then E s aid , "Let ' s try again . " All f lashcards were r e moved f rom the tab l e .
(b) Presentation o f the target word and distrac tor ( s ) les s the i t em selected by mis take on the previous trial . The d is tracter chosen in error was removed ( f ad ed out) for
this pr esent at ion .
( c) If the subj ect was correc t on ( b ) above then E provided verbal conf irmation ( e . g . "Good " , "Okay " ) . The cards were
then r emoved .
The comp lete lis t compris ing the targe t word and dis trac tors was again display ed by E ( Trials 2 , 3 , and 4 contained 1 , 2 , and 3 dis trac ters respe c t ively ) .
(d) If wrong on (b) ab ove , E provided verbal feedback , say ing , "Try again . " Con t inued errors on each a t t emp t cause the remaining dis trac ters to b e r emoved one at a time un til only the target i t em was pres ent ed . Subj ects were then given ano ther attemp t at the complete lis t . A maximum of 9 attemp ts inc lud ing 3 tries a t th e complete lis t was provid ed . E then advanced the subj e c t to the nex t trial .
5 - Trial 3
( a) Trial 3 cards were pres ented by E . Th is inc luded the targe t word and two dis tracter items . E provided a verbal
ins t ruction , say ing , "Point to the word "
(b ) If correct , then E provided verbal confirma t ion . E then advanc ed the subj ect to trial 4 .
( c) If wrong , then E provided verb al f eedback , saying "Try
again . " The cards were r emoved f rom the t able . The error rou t ine in s tep 4 was followed until the s ubj ect made a correc t response for the comp lete l is t of words ( target word and 2 dis tracters ) .
6 - Trial 4
(a) The f inal t rial was presented by E . Th is cons is ted of the targ e t word and 3 dis tracters placed at r andom on the t able .
E s aid , "Point to the word "
(b) If correc t , then E provided verbal conf irmation and advanced
the s ubj ect to the next training word .
( c ) I f wrong , E gave verbal f eedb ack , s ay ing , " Try aga in . "
The fading routine des cribed in S tep 4 was f ollowed until
the subj ect could correctly identify the target word from a complete lis t .
The above s equence was precisely f o l lowed for each of the two prac t ice words and eigh t training words contained in each module . This provided a total o f 40 trials for each s ession . Wi th the excep t ion of verba l feedb ack , this manual procedure was identical to the CAI vers ion of t h e ppired as s ociate programme .
CHAPTER VI
RES EARCH DES IGN AND PROCEDURES
Introduct ion
Th is chap ter des cribes an evolut ion of the s tudy through a pilot phase to the main res earch p roj ect wh ich was undertaken in th is in ves tigation . A d e tai led account on the p rocedures used to s e l e c t
training items and subj ects is inc luded . I t was cons id ered es sential also to describ e the development of cr i t erion measures des igned espec ially for th is s tudy . Adminis trat ion of the tes t i t ems and training programmes is dis cussed in th is section w i th regard to both the computer ass is ted ins truc t ion and ind ividual tui t i on groups . This is fol lowed by a s ta tement o f s p e c i f i c hypotheses to be tested and commen ts on design of the s tudy .
Pilot Phase
As wi th a l l innovative programmes , it is des irable to car ry out
some trial training procedures prior to imp lementation of a maj or re
search proj ect . Much informal informa t ion was collated during the course
of preced ing res earch with microcomputer-bas ed ins truct ion at Cook
S treet Training Centre in Palmers ton Nor th . It was determined that
trainees could , f or the mos t part , opera t e the equipment and l earn through interac t ion wi th the computer to carry o u t b as ic ar i thmetic and pre-read ing drills . Prob lems were also identif i ed that led to several mod i f i c a t i ons in the l earning programmes . The s e included adj us tment o f speed at whi ch visual information was given and amount of audio ins truction provided . The p il o t ing phase took place over a s ix month period f rom January to June , 1 9 80 .
Several purpo s es c an b e advanced f o r a preliminary phase of the inves tigation : f irs tly , to tes t all aspe c ts of the cours eware b o th in terms of theore t i cal and p rac tical appl ication; s econdly , to d etermine
how well inte l l e ctually h andicapped adu l t s can handle the computer