On-Screen Design: the Computer as a Courseware Design Tool.

Abstract

Computer On-Screen Design Environment (CODE) is proposed as a design environment for the creation of instructional software to help teachers gain control over their teaching by developing some of their own materials. CODE is compared with Paper On-Screen Design Environment (PODE), in an exploration of the effects of the design environment. This involved studying the impact of the computer itself on the design process when every effort was made to hold the principles of design constant. One hypothesis in this study is that designers (teachers) using CODE will have more favorable attitudes towards design than those using PODE. A second hypothesis assumes that instructional activities designed with CODE will be substantively richer and more motivating than activities designed with PODE. A third hypothesis states that in the event of differences between the original idea and the result, subjects using CODE will consider the result a qualitative improvement over their original idea more often than subjects working within PODE. Eighteen teachers, university students and faculty members participated in the experiment. They were r and omly divided into two groups: The CODE-first group and the PODE-first group. After a forty-five hour workshop in authoring and design, each subject designed a short instructional unit. The CODE-first group used the computer with an authoring system called "QUEST" as the design environment, while the PODE-first group designed on paper. The subjects then recorded their ideas and their evaluations of the results. In the second treatment the subjects designed a second short instructional unit, but now the PODE-first group used the computer and the CODE-first group used paper. Using QUEST, all of the paper products were then programmed. Two experienced referees evaluated the lessons and analyzed the results. There was a slight but significant preference for designing with the aid of a computer. Objective product richness measures supported the hypothesis that the computer plays a significant role in the design process. The referees also found the CODE products to be significantly richer instructional activities than the PODE products. There was no apparent support for the third hypothesis, however, because the subjects agreed that with both methods, their designed products were very close to their original ideas.