Drill and Practice Software
Perhaps the simplest form of CAI software is drill and practice software. It is not designed to present new material or to introduce the students to new concepts, but to simply reinforce, through review and practice, topics to which the student has already been exposed. Drill and Practice software is probably the lowest level of CAI, and it has often been criticised for not using the capabilities of the computer for higher level learning objectives. It has its place, however, in the overall learning environment.
Good drill and practice software is able to isolate individual concepts and make sure that students have mastered them. It is able to monitor students' progress and intervene quickly to make sure that students have not learned something incorrectly.
After focusing on elementary topics, it may proceed to higher levels of learning in which several concepts may be needed to answer a question.
Purposes of Drill and Practice Software
- Assists students in reviewing, rehearsing, reinforcing, and practicing
concepts to which they have already been introduced. It does not introduce
new concepts
- Provides immediate and relevant feedback to students. It prevents students from learning something incorrectly.
- Can focus on concepts, problems, etc. that a student needs to work on. It does not force students to go over topics that they already know.
- Can identify mastery. Mastery is often indicated when students can complete ten problems in a row without making any mistakes.
Presentation of Questions
There are several ways that questions can be selected for presentation.
- Random selection
- A specified number of questions or problems is selected randomly from a large list of questions or problems in a given concept area.
- Categorical queuing
- Questions or problems may be divided into categories according to organizational divisions of the material or according to difficulty. A certain mix of qustions or problems may be selected from each category, or a student may be allowed to select a category and concentrate on questions within that area.
- Organized queuing
- A specified number of questions or problems are selected in such a way that they are presented sequentially from easiest to hardest, or in such a way that one concept leads to another.
- Flashcard queuing
- An interesting extension of organized queuing is called flashcard queuing. It is a form of organized queuing in which questions that a student fails to
answer correctly are added to the end of the question list. The student will encounter these questions again during the drill and practice session.
Applications
- To reinforce concepts in students who are learning them slower than others in the class.
- To provide extra practice for students who have been absent on days in
which the entire class practiced a topic.
- To provide an entertaining review of topics.
- To provide focus for students with certain types of behavioral problems.