Instructional Science 17: 277-279 (1988) 0 Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht - Printed in the Netherlands

277

Book reviews

A. Jones, E. Scanlon and T. O’Shea (Eds.), The computer revolution in education: new technologies for distance teaching. Brighton: The Harvester Press, 1987, 282pp., g30.00, ISBN O-7108-0985-9 (hardback); f10.95, ISBN 0-71108-1178-O (paperback).

This book is a collection of papers describing developmental research work carried out largely at the U. K. Open University.

As is too frequently the case these days, the main part of the title of this good book is the part after the colon: the bit about “computer revolution” is superfluous, if not downright silly. There is nothing revolutionary, although there is much that is worthwhile, about the various distance education innovations which are dis- cussed in this carefully chosen assortment of papers.

The people who will find this book most useful are likely to be novice researchers such as graduate students in educational technology, and also distance education practitioners who wonder which of these techniques might be applicable to their current programmes. Educators in general who have an interest in intelli- gent tutoring systems, and developers of CAL (Computer Aids for Learning) for adults may also find it useful.

Unfortunately the book was rather slow in coming out - most of the work cited is circa 1982-83; there is one 1984 citation and none thereafter. This does not matter as far as the theoretical thinking and the results of student trials are con- cerned, but the hardware mentioned is obsolete, and some of the software discussed is obsolescent.

The chapters which I found particularly interesting were those on student modelling for tutoring systems, and those on new media. The chapters of part 4, on student modelling for (and by) intelligent machine tutoring systems constitute a very good introductory tutorial on the subject. Anderson’s learning theory, and production-rule modelling approaches are stressed as constituting a good basis for practical work. This is complemented by Scanlon and O’Shea’s research on the actual behaviour of novices versus experts in college level physics problem solving.

Ian Every’s two chapters, one on MERLIN (an arrangement for using telephone tutoring with CAL) and the other on developing CAL for physics instruction are quite interesting. His work emphasizes the value of students working in pairs or with a tutor rather than alone when using simulations, and also the importance of including enough student guidance in the simulation software itself, or failing that, by telephone.

278

Paul Bacsich’s chapter on computer (mediated) conferencing provides a good introduction to the strengths (e.g. flexible student-student links and student-tutor links) and weaknesses (e.g. numbers accommodated and cost) of this medium, but the technical and costing information needs updating. Recent papers by Tony Kaye and Tony Bates should be consulted to follow the Open University’s progress with this technique and technology.

The chapter on interactive video by Diana Laurillard is a good introduction to the possibilities offered, and the rather daunting conditions which must be ful- filled if interactive video is to be implemented efficiently and effectively. Readers should consult her more recent book on the subject to gain a deeper understanding and new strategies for interactive video development (Laurillard, 1987).

The fifth part of the book on the evaluation of applications needs to be comple- mented with a further section discussing computer technology applied to the appraisal of student learning (see Harris, 1987). The ways in which assessment is handled have a great deal to do with how students set about learning. Consequently, the choice between, for instance, computer-mediated conferencing vs. objective automated testing has large repercussions which need discussion.

In summary, the book is a well-chosen assortment of interesting papers, partic- ularly valuable for students of distance education, but also for those interested in advanced forms of Computer Aids to adult Learning.

References

Harris, D. (1987). Openness and closure in distance education. Lmdon: The Falmer Press. LauriUard, D. (1987). Interactive media. Chichester: Ellis Honwod.

Gary Boyd Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec

D. Foster and R. Lock (Eds.), Teaching science 11-13. London: Croom Helm, 1987, 209 pp., E25.00, ISBN o-7099-4930-8 (hardback): E7.95, ISBN 0-7099- 4931-6 (paperback).

In the past few years, the thinking of most secondary school science teachers has been dominated by the advent of the new GCSE examinations, so attention has been focused on 14-16 year old pupils. Now that the immediate novelty of these changes will be diminishing, it is timely to reconsider the needs of those at the lower end of the secondary school. A number of issues need resolution: how work