Some Effects of Computer Technology on Human Interaction and Individualization in the Teaching of Deductive Logic(1)

Marvin J. Croy
Michael G. Green
James R. Cook

• 1. Background
• 2. Intelligent CAI and Individualization
• 3 First Year Objectives of the Study
• 4. First Year Results
• 4.1 Predictions and Actual Outcomes
• 4.1.1 Behavioral Measures
• 4.1.2 Performance Measures
• 4.1.3 Questionnaire Results
• 5. Assessing the Ethical Implications
• Conclusions
• References

Conclusions

Increased individualization has been one of the chief motivations for the development of computer-assisted instruction. Whether individualization can best be provided by well-programmed computers or by human teachers is an as-yet undecided empirical question. That question is extremely complex. A wide variety of consequences given each alternative should be examined, and judging the value of those consequences is ultimately a matter of ethical appraisal. The ethical complexities will doubtless be as recalcitrant as the empirical ones, but studies which simultaneously confront the empirical and normative dimensions of the matter offer some hope. Defining and justifying the aims of education, their corresponding values, and the particular practices which instantiate those values is a challenging task. Accomplishing this task will require the resources of educators and psychologists as well as philosophers, but it appears to be a challenge which must be met if new educational technologies are to be put to intelligent and careful use.

University of North Carolina at Charlotte