Luận văn learners' attitude towards learning the causeware funtioning in business through dyned software

ATTITUDE TOWARDS LEARNING TITE COURSEWARE “FUNCTIONING IN BUSINESS” TIIROUGII DYNED SOFTWARE: A SURVEY EVALUATION BY THE SECOND YEAR NON- ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF

LEARNERS? ATTITUDE TOWARDS LEARNING TITE

COURSEWARE “FUNCTIONING IN BUSINESS”

TIIROUGII DYNED SOFTWARE:

A SURVEY EVALUATION BY THE SECOND YEAR NON-

ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY

(Thái độ của sinh viên đối với việc học giáo trình “Eunctioning in Business”

bằng phần mềm DynED: Một khảo sat danh giá dối với sinh viên năm thứ bai

của trường Đại Học Kinh Doanh và Công Nghệ Hà Nội)

MLA.MINOR PROGRAM TIESIS

HANOT, 2011

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY TIE UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES,

FACUTY OF POST GRADTATE- STUTIES

AREA ERERERERERERERERERERERERERER ERR ERED

NGUYEN THI NHU QUYNH

LEARNERS’? ATTITUDE TOWARDS LEARNING TITE

COURSEWARE “FUNCTIONING IN BUSINESS”

TIIROUGII DYNED SOFTWARE:

A SURVEY EVALUATION BY THE SECOND YEAR NON-

ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOT UNIVERSITY OF

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY

(Thái độ của sinh viên đối với việc học giáo trình “Eunctioning in Business”

bằng phần mềm DynED: Một khảo sat danh giá dỗi với sinh viên năm thứ bai

của trường Đại Học Kinh Doanh và Công Nghệ Hà Nội)

M.A MINOR PROGRAM TIIESIS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART lL: INTRODUCTIOY

1, Rationale of the thesis

Chapter 1: Literaturc Review 4

1.1 Courseware in Language Teaching and Learning „4 1.1.1 Definition of Courseware § 1.1.2.Reasons for Courseware Evaluation „6 1.1.3.Role of Teaching Courseware in General English 6 1.1.4.Typss of Courseware Evaluation 7

1.2 Courseware Evaluation Framework

1.2.1 Presentation and Organization of the Confent

1.2.2 valuation of Learning - - - -.16

1.3.1.Introduction of Dynantne Prograrm

1.3.2 Pepagogical Framework of DynED - - -.17

1.3.3.“Functioning in Business” Courscware of DynED Prograri

1,3.4,.The Role of DynED as CAL/1,

Chapter 3: Data Analysis and Discussion

3.1 Results of the Content in “Functioning in Busines:

3.3 Results of the Navigation in “Functioning in Business” Courseware

3.4 Resulls of the Feedback in “Punetioning in Business” Courseware 32 3.5 Results of the Screen Design in “Functioning in Business” Courseware 33 3.6 Results of the Students’ Learning to“ the Courseware - 235 3.7 Results of the Students’ Preference to the Courseware - -.3 3.8 Recommendations for material improvements 39 3.9 Summary of major ñinđinạs e se

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figures

Figure 1: Diagram of the Evaluation Framework

Figure 2: Video Interaction in DynED

Figure 3: Sample of Vocabulary question in DynED

Higure 4: Sample of sentence construction in DynD

Figure 5: Record Manager in DynED

Tables

Table 1: Analysis on the Content in the “Functioning in Business” Courseware

Table 2: Analysis on the Interactivity of the “Functioning in Business” Courseware Table 3: Analysis on the Navigation of the IMM Couseware

Table 4: The analysis of the feedback of the “Funetioning in Business” courseware Table 5: Analysis on the Screen Design of the Courseware

Table 6: The analysis on the students’ learning towards the courseware

: Analysis on Students’ Preferences towards the Use of “l’metioning in

Business” Courseware Compared lo Traditional Methods of Lcammg,

Gopalakrishnan & Ross, 2001)

Incorporating technology in the classroom is beneficial to the students in a number of ways: assisting students’ understanding of concepts, enhancing students’ motivation in exploring, investigating, conjecturing, creating and discovering principles, and making generalization and connections (Wertherimer, 1990), cngaging, students involvement in the learning process (Guha, 2003) and motivating them

The advent of Information and Comnmunication Technology (ICT) has brought the concept

of Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) into the classroom CAL is a kind of instruction that exploits computer software to assist teachers to teach information or skills related to a Particular topic (Roblyer, 2004), and studenls can interact direclly with lessons programmed into the computer system (Smaldino, Russell, Heinich & Molenda, 2005)

‘There are many types of software that teachers can use to develop their own teaching

courseware

Studies demonstrate that the DynKD software can be used to help improve students’ achicvoment in English honeo, lo cradieals much English awaely and foar of using computer software and Ieaming English

2 Aims of the thesis

The purpose of this study is to svaluate a courseware for the Business Communications

course, The couseware is specifically known as “Functioning in Business” It consists of

additional information on the subject and quizzes to complement the Business Cormnunigations course, The objective is the evaluation of the courseware by the slud: and that of the researcher on its strengths and weaknesses of the courseware, The study is conducted primarily to find out the attitude of students towards the use of the Business Cormmumications courseware as a supplementary teaching/learning material in ITUBT

3 Significance of the thesis

Many teachers oflzn face problems and difficulties in caching English namely duc lo shortage of instructional media, students’ lack of understanding of the basic concepts of English, students’ incomplete work and negative learning attitude Researchers have shown that students also tend to ‘find schoo! much less interesting than the myriad of devices they carry in their pocket and backpacks’ (Prensky, 2005), Thus, teachers need to find interesting strategies and tools to make teaching and learning more effective and

interesting to the students

Practically, the findings of the thesis will be of great use not only to the researcher but also

to the teachers who ars teaching Dyn software to students at IIUTST Furthermore, the findings of the thesis will form a foundation toward improving the quality of the courseware which is currently in use for the students at HUBT

4 Scope of the thesis

In courseware evaluation, there has been a great mumber of criteria that should be taken into consideration such ws: the content, the organization and presenlation, the design factors, thc pedagogical parameter, and so on In this study, the rescarchsr focuses on the following criteria: content, interactivity, screen design, navigation, feedback, students” learning and preference lowards the courseware, Due to the limited scope of a minor thesis, research subjects are primanily contined to English students who have been learning the courseware for 1 year However, to ensure the validity and reliability of the given information, teachers’ views, which are collecicd in an informal way through their observation and experience in working/talkang with students, is also taken into account,

5, Design of the thesis

‘There are three main parts in this thesis: introduction, development, and conclusion

The introduction provides the rationale, the aims, the significance, the scope, and design of

the thesis

‘The development consists of three chapters:

Chapler one preserils a review of lileralure concentrating on the related lo

courseware evaluation, It discusses the definition of coumeware, the roles and types of courseware evaluation in language teaching and learning, and presents major issues in courseware evaluation including purposes for courseware evaluation, typos of coursawarc evaluation, and courseware evaluation framework,

Chapter two focuses on the methodology employed in this thesis including an overview of curent English (caching and teaming al HUBT, resoarch mlhodology, and the data collection procedures

Chapter three discusses the findings of the study, points out the strengths, weaknesses of the courseware, and suggests the recommendations for the courseware improvement,

‘The conclusion provides a brief summary of all the major parts being present in the study, the conclusions drawn out and suggestions for further research,

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature Review:

1.1, Courseware in Langu:

¢ Teaching and Learning

As technology improves, computers are becoming more and more common, and in an increasingly diverse number of applications Moreover, not only have computers become

commonplace, they have also become indispensable Without the computer, for example,

many recent scientific researches would not have been possible Furthermore, the demanding on high-speed communication and the immediate accessibility to information

in different ways has fostered the advance for the development of computer technology

“These demands and technological advances have worked hand in hand to propel the art and science of multimedia to a new level, resulting in products that weave together text,

graphs, animation, audia and video.” (Norton Peter, 2001; 419) Therefore, computer is

considered as a tool to improve the quality of teaching technology Recently, the process of

teaching with assistance of computer is known as Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAD

The philosophy of CAT is thal the lessons allow the leamers fo learn their own using

structured and/or unstructured interactive lessons

The use of computer 2

& Rival (2009: 137) They are:

a teaching media provides several advantage:

ated by Sudan

») The role of computer will stimulate students’ motivation in learning process

is} Color, sound, and graphic increase the students’ impression of realism

Wid) Students’ individual responses in learning activities will produce long term

memory

They also add that computer as teaching media provides audio and visualization which helps students to recognize, enrich, and elarity the concept of the learning materials they are learning

Tn line with them, Me Donough, ef al (1994:211) staled thal there are several advantages

by using computer as learning media, such as:

i) Computer gives stinulus to the students’ learning process

attention ui) Computer helps fo recall and rebuild the cancept of previous material

ty) Computer activates students’ responses

¥) Computer triggers interactive learning process, and computer also provides

Jeurning sources which are easy to be modified

llowever, besides those advantages, Sudjana & Rival (2009:138) also explain several

constraints of the usc of computer as leaning media as follows:

- The program, especially for teaching goal, is still less developed if it is

compared with other goal

- The digital software used is usually not flexible to be used in every computer by

comparing with the benefit ttself

- Beeause the role of human user is still strongly demanded the teacher should have hiyh-technology skill, ai leas( to operate the system and program of the computer itself

1.1.1 Definition of courseware

‘The term ‘courseware’ was introduced by “SCORL!! Liducational Centers

the pioneering developer that comed the term by combining the words ‘course’ and ‘software! IL was originally used to term any computerized packages of teaching-leaming matenal that instructors could supplement to the main lessons Criswell (1989) distinguishes between two different definitions of the term, asserting that, in a narrow sense, courseware refers to programs that administer instruetions, and in a wider sense, in addition to such programs, it relates to all handbooks, performance aids and course materials A courseware is regarded

in a wider sense as “any educational package including a number off lessons or courses aupended with tests, teacher's! learner's manuals and guidelines available online andlor

an CDs and/or DY'Ds” (Mukundan & Nimehehisalem, 2008: 72).

According to Gueulette’s view, an educator refers courseware as “tte actual instruction

involving both content and technique need trì a CAI systent; not to he confused with the

software, the actual program: that directs a computer's operation.”(1982) Thus, there are

many ways to define a courseware because the objective and applicability can vary from

one situation fo another

1.1.2 Reasons for courseware cvaluation

According lo Tlaugland (1992), the type of courseware thal brings impacts to students”

computer experiences and even seems to determine whether they have developmental

gains from these experiences ‘I'herefore, the courseware like any other resources must

have a developmental approach to teaching and learning

It is very important to know whether the suitability of a particular courseware could mect the students’ needs, its contribution to the students’ performance and achievement, and it

could acl as a motivation tool

1.1.3 Roles of Teaching Courseware in General English Courses

Computer-Assisted Language Leaming (CALL) originates from Computer — Assisted Instruction (CAD CALL means using compnters to support language teaching and leaming in some ways (Egbert, (2009) The current philosophy of CALL puts a strong emphasis on students-centered material that allows leamers to work on their own, Therefore, CALL is purposed lo fieilitate language Icaming vy using teclmology of computer More specufically, Levy (1997) states that CALL is digital software tool which

is designed to develop language leaming and it also covers the application of the computer

in language teaching and learning Morcover, Ihsanudin (2009:8) in his rescarch states that

“CALL is not focused on technology but on language learning The word assisted indicates that technology only facilitates the language learning process A more accurate term for

using technology in language learning might be language learning through technology

reflecting the true position of language in such activity”

Soc (1998) says that there arc three main roles of CALL in interacting with students;

* Drill and Practice

Computer provides practice to strengthen the learning material, and gives feedback directly from the students” sores In this case, CALI plays a role as complement media ir teaching-leaming language process in classroom Moreover, this is very usefiil when

teacher cannot interact with students individually

In this case, students are more active in interacting with the computer Computer provides

learning material, practice, and some feedback CALL in this role has been trusted as

replacement enclosed traditional method which provides more effective

1.1 4 Types of Courseware Evaluation

When considering possible approaches to educational evaluation, there are four general

1,

types that are describsd in the literanre Dvaluarien of langnage teaching materials/C (computer assisted Icaming) is in fact intimately linked with the authoring and dissemination process, Thus approaches to evaluation reflect either what the authoring

Process seems lo be before evaluation is considered, or else what the evaluators think il ought to be in order to make evaluation useful Another way of putting this is that evaluation can be designed for different purposes ot roles

+ Formative evaluation: to help improve the design of the CAT

« Summative evaluation: to help users choose which piece of CAL to use and for

Summative evaluation

The defini "common-sense" view thal lends lo occur spontancously lo many people is thal evaluation of CAL is rather like consumer reports on goods: the manufacturer designs and supplies them, then someone else does tests and produces reports to help purchasers decide which to buy This view of ovatuation is Tinked to a view that CAL is produced Tike textbooks and other goods, and that evaluation is not expected to have any direct effect on the CAL itself by telling the authors how to improve it Nor is it expected to help consumers int how to use the product: only whieh to buy Thus this is a common view far

fact that a lot of CAL is produced like a let of textbooks

by a very small team of authors with no spare resources for testing; it fits with a tradition in

perhaps these reasons; it fits

the Werature for comparative experimental testing Gvhich can compare two sets of teaching materials well); it tits the needs of new CAL users to decide what to buy, and more broadly it is analogous to consumer reports and how we encounter most of the things

we buy, which we arc offered withoul being consulted about how we woukd like thơm designed,

is, Aftcr all, testing is pat of all enginceting, and fecdback from students is also uscd by almost all lecturers to adjust their lectures and handouts The key point to realise when

using it for CAL, is that such testing must be done in time to allow changes to the material

in the light of the Tasults before the end of the developrnent period This kind of testing is called formative evaluation, as it is used to modify ("form") the material

The most realistic, and so most helpful, formative evaluation would use real students in

their normal Icarning situation This is likely to increase the time for the whole eycle of

production, testing and modification Feedback to developers from sites who are early

users of the material is a helpful substitute that gets rood this constraint, Although this practice really means that users are running poorly tested software, and mn effect doing the testing that producers should have done themselves, it is better than having no way of caiching problems and improving the softwars Il, in facl, corresponds to common processes in commercial software production, where producers keep track of users and collect performance reports in order to improve later releases of their software

More information on planing this kind of evaluation ean be found in Alessi & Trollip (1991), and in MeAteer & Shaw (1994), As noted above, the key constraint is planning to

do the testing early enough that changes can be made The reward is a significant improvernent in quality of the end product, Thus the min added result will not be 2 report, but the modifications to the design actually done

measure molivation in any way, yl much CAT would never he used if il were nol made compulsory by teachers or expennmenters However this is not a universal truth: in some cases students have a strong desire to use the CAL independent of coercion, in others they are indifferent and usc it only under compulsion but without disliking it, in yet others they continue to express strong revulsion (even though educational tests show educational benefits) luminative evaluation is in effect a systematic foous on discovering the

|, using approaches inspired by anthropology rather than psyehology

often been decided already Instead, for them the question is how ta make the best usc of

CAL material they are already committed to using Classroom evaluations typically give much information that can be used for this For instance if all students complain about

some iss

or score badly on a quiz item conesponding to an issue, then teachers immediately respond to the evaluation report by adjusting in some way e.g making an extra announcement, or producing a supplementary handout ‘hus a major use of

classrnom evaluations in practice is to be formative, nol of the CAL ilself, bul of the

overall teaching and learning situation This of course can be and is responsive to local variations in how the CAL is used, and for whom It can be a significant help in integrating CAL smatcrial into varying lngal situations and courses,

1.2 Courseware Evaluation Framework

‘The efficiency of a courseware depends on many issues In order to build up the evaluation

instrument the authors alfcrupted Lo integrale in @ framework # number of importank

emerged from researches on instructional design and system evaluation the past fifteen years, and which should be considered from evaluators of hypermedia courseware (H.C KGeorgiadou & Economides, 2000) It has to be acknowledged that this framework is relatively limited as there are numerous articles in the literature on instructional design and system evaluation However, the authors, in order to develop the framework, tried to reviow a large number of thơm amd then to focus on the most often cilsd anthors and articles Moreover, the famework is not rigid and therefore new parts could be added or existing ones could be altered as research advances in the area of educational hypermedia

11

‘This ftamework is concemed with both social and practical acceptability of hypermedia

a combination of its social and practical acceptability” The term social aooeptabihty is

related with the social basis of an educational system In cases when the basis is teacher- centred, then the software that provides high levels of leamer conirot and undermines the

teacher’s authority is possibly socially unacceptable On the other hand, when the basis is

student-centred, then a courseware that limits the student’s potential for independent discovery is socially unacceplable Although computer-based education may nol be abile to

adapt to every cultural nomn, they should be designed to be as culturally sensitive as

possible (Powell, 1993)

Given thal » pisce of hypermedia courseware is socially acceptable, ils practical acceptability is exammed through the evaluation of the following four sectors:

i) Content

ii) Presentation and organization of the content

iii) Technical support and update processes and finally

iv) Evaluation of leaning

AYE soclors are equally important, as rypermedia courseware bas lo be simultancousty pedagogically and technically sound Moreover, each sector includes a number of criteria that are incorporated in the valuation instrument, which should be met in a satisfactory

level, im order to characterize a picce of hypermedia courseware of Iigh quality Furthermore, cost-etfectiveness should always be examined when simnilar products seem to have the same educational value Figure 1 presents in a diagram the sectors included in the

framework and the factors that arc associated with them.

Validity end authority

of indw dual differences

Pedagogical Cooperative learning

factors

Proneitation’ arid orgs Navigation

Technical coverage

Technical support

Essy to learn Efficient to use

Pleasant to use

Figure 1 Diagram of the Evaluation Framework

Before presenting the evaluation instrument it is necessary to discuss the underlying theory

of the criteria used for the ‘presentation and organization of the content’ and the

“evaluation of learning’ sectors

1.2.1 Presentation and Organization of the Content

The factors associated with this sector are the pedagogical ones that are concerned with

learning and instructional design theories and the interface design factor

1) Pedagogical Factor: This is a complicated factor as there are different beliefs of how humans learn However, cognitive theories stress that learning is an active, constructive,

cumulative, self-regulated process in which the leamer plays a critical role Moreover,

current instructional theory focusing on learner-centred approaches depends on

information access and learning environments that encourage free interaction with information The agreement with the principles of an instructional design theory depends

arc is pert of the currienlumn

Nevertheless, the two core elements that are important in all educational settings are

“motivation” and ‘structure’, which largely define the instructional nature of an information

2 the learner is Lo infern hither what she/he will

environment A typical way 10 motive

achieve at the end of the instruction by stating the aims and objectives (Gagné, Briggs,

Wager, 1988) As far as the structure of the hypermedia courseware is concerned, that is

how lo organise instructional information, this agai depends on the subject matter

However, in cases when the instructor wants to permit the learners to advance, review, see

examples, repeat the unit, or escape to explore another unit, Jonassen (1992) suggested the network type or structured hypennedia as most appropriate Structured hypermedia consists of sets of nodes, each set accessible fiom any other set The node sets can be structured in any number of ways, such as node-link, hierarchical, network, depending on the nature of the processing the designer wants lo clieit from the user The structure of each node set with the vanous options available within each set needs to be conveyed on every screen, Another method for structuring the node sets is to combine related concepts, tie thom fogether in an introductory block, and then pormil access within the scl only ta concepts contained within the set

In hypermedia leaning systems, another important element is ‘learner's control’, which is Primary in the design of interactive learning as iL allows students to tailor the Isarning experience to their own individual needs However, there are dangers in swrendering too much control to the user, as low-ability students may get confused when control depends oma wide Tange af options (Gray, 1989; Litchficld, 1993) The high level ofleamer control may result in disorientation and distraction The amount and type of learner control depends on the learner characteristics (age and cognitive capabilities), content, and the nature of the leaming task (Poneelet & Proctor, 1993), Content that must be mastered and unfamiliar tasks oficn requires more program contrel, compared to content with no qualified mastery levels or familiar leaming tasks, Learner control is more appropriate than Program control when learners are mors capable and are Gariliar with the learning task Moreover, advice is provided to assist leamets in making decisions and control is used

sions should be given (Mealcor & Shaw,

Moreover, the issues of ‘accommodation of individual differences’, and ‘cooperative learning? are highly important in the effectiveness of hypormedia-hased learning Tn most education contexts learners are not homogeneous in terms of prerequisite knowledge, motivation, experience, learning styles and cognitive styles Also evidence suggests that

when hyparmediadearning s

both instructionally and socially

siems are striclured to allow cooperation, tearners bencfil

ii) Interface Design l'actor: feferactivity - Navigation - feedback

Interactivity in instruction comprises the nature of the activity performed by the technology and the leamer, as well as the ability of the technology to adapt the events of instruction in order to make thal interaction mors meaningful (Reigeluth, 1987) lis important lo design

as much meamngtul interactivity as possible into instructional software (Or, Golas, & Yao, 1994) 'he amount of navigational assistance needed is a fimetion of the size of the knowledge base, the uscfalnoss of navigational aids thal are already part of the authoring

instrument as evaluation items in the retewanl, section

‘The basic factors that can determine the effectiveness of feedback are the type and

consequence of an action To illustrate the cortecpL 0Ÿ œ#msic [ccdback Lauillard uscs

examples of a child's actions while playing with water as the physical world responds to the child's actions of filling pouring etc On the other hand extrinsic feedback does not

occur within a situation but as an cxternal comment on it: right or wrong She suggests that

extrinsic feedback is not a necessary consequence of the action, and therefore is not

expressed in the world of the action ilself, bul al the level of the description of the action,

In computer-based instruction, however, the intrinsic feedback relates to navigation and interactivity with the instructional program, and the extrinsic feedback relates to the feedback on user's performance Schimmel (1988) identifies hres Iypes of extrinsic

feedback:

đ Confirmation feedback that simply confirms whether a learner's answer is correct

or incorrect

bj) Correct response feedback that presents the correct answer

c) Explanatory feedback, such as a step-by-step solution to an incorrectly answered

question

Many actions require more extended exirinsic feedback than confirmation feedback Simple answers such as right or wrong cannot provide any information about how leamers should corrzel their performamec A more helpful form of extrinsic feedback would give

the learner information about how to adapt and correct their performance, such as correct response and explanation feedback

iii) “Screen design’ is also an important evaluation factor Different serecn clements should

be used to present stimulatmg information that will motivate and assist the leamers in retaining end recalling the information ‘The psychological limitations to consider when designing hypermedia learning systems include

a) Memory load: ie how many different cantral icons is it reasonable for learners to

remember at any one time?

bị Perception: i.e what colours and fonts provide the best readubility?,

¢) Attention: i.e how car the users’ attention be drawn to information that is relevant,

when there is a lat of different information an the screen?

A large number of screen design guidelines produced trom several researchers on

educational technology exist in the literature and the relevant items on the evaluation

The learning outcomes arc evaluated through performance tests typically uscd to judge the quality and the quantity of leaming, which usually have the form of ‘pre-tests’ used to determine learning outcomes prior lo the intervention and Sromediate” and “delayed post- tests’ to examine learning outcomes after the intervention The Jearning process refers to the usability of a product and should be evaluated by observing and measuring the end- usors altitudes Usabilily is usually associated with five parametars (Niglsen, 1990):

a) Easy to learn: Users can quickly get some work done with the systens

bj Efficient to use: Once the user has learnt the system, a high level of productivity is possible

¢) Easy to remember: The casual user is able lo return to using the system afier some

period withaut having to learn everything all over

& Few errors: Users da not make many errors during the use of the system or if they

de so they can easily recover them

e) Pleasant to use: Users are subjectively satisfied by using the system.

1.3 Dynamic Education (DynED)

1.3.1 Introduction af Dynamic Education Program

Dynamic Fducation or Dyn was founded im 1987 by the former dizector of the Language Institute of Japan (LION, Lance Knowles, and a tcamn of engineers DynED

created the world’s first interactive multimedia language learning in 1988 and received a

U.S patent for this invention in 1991 Dynl’D focused on combining the multimedia

Iecbnology and classroom aclivitics, Moreover, Dyn mission is to help students develop the English skills they need to succeed in school and career

Overall, it can be concluded that DynD is multimedia language software and services which may be uscd by schools, universitics and business worldwide

1.3.2 Pedagogical Framework of DynED

Fundamentally, DynED courses are based on research based approaches to language leaming and curriculum design, extensive classroom expenence, and advanced human interface design ‘'he effectiveness of its courses is based on over twenty-five years of expericncs in programs fram around the world and on recent findings in the muraseiones

In addition, DynED has access to and actively utilizes the real-time study records of thousands of students from around the world,

What makes DynED diffcrent is its unique approach to the design and usc of technology in

a blend with teacher-led classroom activities To make the leaming process effective, DynBD also provides feedback ftom placement Test, Courseware updates, Mastery Test,

and Record Manager

* DynkD Placement Test

In classroom learning situation, the initial skills of students must be various Students should learn based on their level of proficiency, moreover they cannol be equated Because

of this, DynED program provides placement test to enable to students earn based on their level of proficiency

18

© DynED Courseware

In this study, the courseware selected is Functioning in Business which is suitable for elementary to advance level in DynED program Functioning in Business features several

types of lessons, each of which keeps learners engaged with the language in different ways,

promoting long-term learning This courseware supports students develop their pronunciation and oral fluency, listening and reading comprehension, sentence structure

and effective sequencing of ideas, oral presentation and summarization skills, and ability to

express abstract ideas and relationships

The pronunciation and oral fluency are combined with speech Recognition exercises, the Video Interactions review key concept and grammar, and introduce useful situation language For instance, there is a situation which students must have conversation in telephone with the computer as shown below:

Figure 2: Video Interaction in DynED

Here, students not only practise speaking but also listening As listening and speaking

fluency develop, the students can then focus on text, both reading and writing It is

interesting to note that in comparison with listening and speaking, reading and writing

processors are relatively slow Listening and speaking fluency can support the learning of

19

reading and writing skills, but reading fluency can slow down and interfere with the

development of listening skills (Knowles, 2004)

© DynED Mastery Test

DynED Mastery Test is computer-assisted achievement test designed to evaluate students’ progress and confirm mastery of the language skills developed in the course Test items are randomly selected from a database of test items to ensure variation for each learner and from one test session to another There are several types of questions in each Mastery Test, ranging from multiple-choice, listening comprehension questions, to sentence construction

items which require click and drag manipulation Lexical/ Grammar Question, this

multiple choice type of question generally focuses on vocabulary or grammar points, such

as which form of a verb to use The sample of grammatical question in DynED program is

as follows:

en Ce ea

4 confitmed

Figure 3: Sample of Vocabulary question in DynED

A second type of question focuses on listening comprehension For example, the students may hear a question or statement and have to answer or complete it with the correct choice

In the third type of test item, students are asked to move a set of words into the correct

Figure 4: Sample of sentence construction in DynED

© DynED Records Manager

Well-designed program can assist teachers, both in providing coaching and in pointing out practice strategies and materials that are useful at various stages of the learning process A good records management system can also analyze the study data to identify students who are practising in inefficient ways, such as not recording or using speech recognition exercises often enough, or those who have other problems that need early intervention This can be a big time saver for overworked teachers who deal with large numbers of

students

The Records Manager of DynED of DynED tracks, controls, and provides feedback

regarding the study activities of classes and individual students The password-protected system details each learner’s activities and study history It includes test scores, study time

and frequency, learning path, and detailed information about how the student is using study

features such as voice record, speech recognition, and repetition For instance, it is shown

by the Figure below:

Figure 5: Record Manager in DynED

1.3.3 Functioning in Business Software of DynED Programme

Functioning in Business of DynED programme consists of nine increasingly advanced units, Students click on the appropriate unit and a screen appears with five

choices for study: Presentation Video, Interactive Listening, Variation, Functional

dictation, and Function Grid lessons

Each Functioning in Business unit is divided into several lessons, beginning with a

Presentation Video lesson, which is for preview and review purposes This is a linear play

through of the video without interruption The other lesson types are as follows:

Interactive Listening: This is the key lesson for each unit In this lesson, text, translation,

and glossary support are available, as well as comprehension questions Students should go through this lesson several times and in several ways, with the aim of mastering the language, not just understanding it After listening to each section of the video without

looking at the text, students should begin to focus on the language details To do this, they should focus on key phrases and practise saying them Students should record these

and fluency Ifnot, they have not completed the lesson

Variations: ‘This section gives additional examples of how important language is used in differen! siinations, In the first parl, Icamers may view the diatogues without interruption

In the second part Ieamers will interact with the characters by making language chouces, both for comprehension and for speaking practice The Speech Recognitian exercises will allow lamers to take tums with the characters in the vidco, working their way through the dialogue, just like in a real conversation, Once the language of the lesson is Eamiliar,

learners should reviaw il on a regular basis until iLis mastered and can he spoken Muently,

Functional Dictations: These exercises focus on important phrases fiom the video In each lesson there ars a number of dictations which learners may choose First, select a dictation Learners will then see a video which includes the semlences front thal dictation When this

is finshed, the screen will change, and learners will see a group of words at the top of the

screen, and the dictation sentences with a number of blank spaces where words are

missing, These diciations should be done on a regular basis umtil the “Completion Percentage” is 80% or more, This kind of regular repetition will help learners intemalize the language

Function Grid: These exercises focus on important language functions tiom the video Leamers may select a function, such as Request, and see several examples, Leamers may also select the (?) symbel, which will play a portion of the video and ask learners to identify the language function being illustrated As with the diotations, the fimction grid should be done and reviewed on a regular basis until the Ianguage becomes automatic

The Mastery Tests for cach disc cover 2-3 units These should be taken afler students have studied and reviewed all the lessons in the covered units A good indicator of this is when

students have an 80% or more “Completion Percentage” in all lessons in the LInits to be

tested At this paint students should bz confident that they can understand and use the

language with case, and they should casily pass the Mastery Test, which requires at least

an 80% score.

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1.3.4 The Role øf DynETt äš CAI,

In this study, the tole of DynED program in the implementation of CALL is concluded as

material provider which has beon adjusted io cach student's proficiency Morcover provides some information and explanation of some additional concept to students through practising,

1.3.5 Related Studies

Compnter Assisted Language Learning (CALT) ix an emerging force in language education Despite its awkward beginning and the on-going resistance of many in the language teaching community, it is maturing and showing that it can be a powerful tool in the hands of experienced teachers (Knowles, 2004)

Previous research conducted by Knowles (2004) concludes that the implementation of traditional approaches to language teaching does not develop students’ language Proficioncics as significantly as the implementation of CALI dows I is also supparled by Egbert (2005) who states that the use of computer to support language teaching and leaming can promote all language learning skill areas and contents, Agreed with them, Bentty (2003) states thal the loaning process in which learner us

@ compuler and as a

result his or her language has been umproved,

Morcover, Thsanudin (2009) who bas conducted 1

arch aboul the implementation of

CALL in the classroom concludes that CALL provides wide exposures to hear the use of

target language which can improve students’ listening skills and creates the class more

active, moreover students are more interested in learning process

1.4, Summary

This chapter has provided a brief review of literature ơn courseware evaluation, Tl includes three sections, The first section addressed major issues reflecting the courseware mn teaching and learning English, the definition of courseware, the roles of the courseware in language learning - teaching, and types of courseware evaluation, purposes of courseware

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evaluation ‘Che second section presented major issues in courseware evaluation: couscware cvaluation framework in lerms of the content, the organization and presentation of the content, the design factors and the students’ leaming The last section