On-line tutorials: What kind of inference leads to the most effective learning?

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical study comparing the effectiveness of four different versions of an on-line database tutorial, each of which calls upon the student to perform a different kind of inference. The general-to* specific version presents instructions in the form of general rules, from which the student s expected to infer how to apply the rule in the give context. The explanation-to-specific version supplies information about the functional organiTation of the database program in addition to general rules. The specific-to* specific condition gives an example of the use of a command; the student must infer how to apply thecommand in a slightly different context. The control version gives explicit instructions. The best performance on a post-test consisting of realistic tasks was obtained from the general-to-specific and explanation-to-specific conditions.

Can we enhance performance via learning theory?

“…There are, however, some aspects of Minimalist Learning that we have not yet taken advantage of. For example, the results of an extension of Minimalist Learning into on-line tutorials helped uncover what types of inferences made by students led to the greatest learning effect [2]. Black et al developed four different help manuals, each of which required a different type of inference to be made by the subjects.…”