Poster Presentation/Demo Abstract
After four years and six independent studies at MIT on the use of the tablet pc, novel and empirical assessment protocols were established. These protocols have begun to be used by various software development companies, universities and secondary schools around the world.
Tablet PC in Combination with Various Software Products, Teaching Styles, and Learning Styles
iCampus Report (August 31, 2007)
Top Ten (Let’s Make That Eleven) Ways That Assessment Isn’t Being Done Correctly
Statement of the problem or issue
In an evaluation of well over 100 research projects dealing with the application of educational software and hardware in secondary schools and universities, there was little evidence of the use of empirical methods for assessment. The result has been that there exists little research or results that validly or reliably indicates the benefit of many educational software and hardware products on the market today-even though many probably are extremely effective.
Description of activity, project, solution, and outcome
Over a four year period at MIT involving six independent courses, efforts were made to introduce and develop empirical assessment protocols that could be used to more validly determine the benefit of a given technology. In this research we discovered the additional benefits of introducing the variables of individual learning styles and teaching styles in a classroom assessment design. We found that this could be done in a practical time-saving and inexpensive way.
Importance or relevance to other faculty, staff, students, departments, and programs
This research could be critical in determining what software and what hardware may actually improve student learning in any subject and, specifically, how it may do that. The benefit is that anecdotal and subjective interpretations of results would be replaced by more convincing and scientific evidence. The result would be the introduction and more effective use of a given software or hardware product that a school or faculty member may want to introduce.
David Singer, MIT (Presented at MIT Educational Technology Fair 2009)
Topic Area(s)
7. Others: Assessment protocols for educational technologies