CHAPTER 6

INSTRUCTIONAL
SOFTWARE FOR
CLASSROOM USE
 DRILL AND PRACTICE
SOFTWARE
Drill and Practice is a computer -
instruction technique in which a series
of structured problems or exercises
with immediate feedback to student
responses. Students answer a question
and get immediate feedback. Feedback
can be simple as correct or incorrect.
 Drill and Practice Software
SELECTING
Control Over the Drill and
Practice
-Answering the given questions or
problems are given time limit.
-It gives user enough time to
think and answer before proceeding to
Answer Judging
-A good drill and practice
program must be able to discriminate
correct answers from incorrect ones.
Gives Appropriate Feedback
-Two errors must be avoided
when programs give feedback.
 BENIFITS
Immediate Feedback
- Having drill and practice
software, students would know
instantly their results and would be
able to do immediate corrections if
they gave incorrect answer.
Motivation
-Students get motivated
not only because they will not
write, but also because of the
idea of being in front of the
computer that they love to
operate and manipulate.
Saving Teacher Time
- Teachers can attend to
other student needs while their
students spend time doing the
drill and practice.
 LIMITATIONS AND PROBLEMS

Perceived Misuse
- Some teachers make use
of the drill and practice as part of
lesson introduction and not really
for practicing the students’ skills.
Criticism by
Constructiveness
- People consider this drill
and practice as an outmoded approach
to teaching for this contradicts the aim
of restructured curriculum.
TUTORIAL
SOFTWARE
 TUTORIAL SOFTWARE
A tutorial is a method of transferring
knowledge and may be used as a part of a 
learning process. More interactive and
specific than a book or a lecture, a tutorial
seeks to teach by example and supply the
information to complete a certain task.
A tutorial can be taken in many forms,
ranging from a set of instructions to
complete a task to an interactive problem
solving session
 SELECTING
Extensive Interactivity
-Regular and thorough
responses to questions must be
regularly given along the tutorial to
continuously guide students’
learning.
Thorough User Control
- navigation buttons must
always be present to allow
students to go around the program
and give them the freedom to
return or move forward or even
end the program at their own pace.
Adequate Answer-Judging
and Feedback Capabilities
-When students are asked to
answer in short responses, all possible
answers must be included in the
program.
Appropriate Graphics
-Graphics should always
support the topic being
discussed. These should always
be in line and appropriate for
the instruction.
Adequate Record Keeping
-Summary of progress
report of students must be present
and can be easily accessed by the
teacher to enable them to keep
track of the students’ performance.
 BENIFITS
Tutorials are self-
contained and self-paced
instruction which allows
students to learn at their
own time.
 LIMITATIONS AND PROBLEMS
Criticism by Constructivism
- Tutorial contradicts the
objective of constructivism learning
since tutorial software delivers directed
instruction rather than allowing students
to construct and generate their own
knowledge through hands-on projects.
Lack of Good Products
- This is being
encountered due to difficulty and
expense of designing and
developing tutorial software.
Reflect Only One Instructional
Approach
-What should be taught for a
given topic, how to teach the topic or
lesson effectively, in what sequence
the learning tasks will be presented
are always the questions in producing
an effective tutorial software.
SIMULATION

SOFTWARE
Simulation software is based on the
process of modeling a real phenomenon
with a set of mathematical formulas. It is,
essentially, a program that allows the user
to observe an operation through simulation
without actually performing that operation.
Simulation software is used widely to
design equipment so that the final product
will be as close to design specs as possible
without expensive in process modification.
Simulation software with real-time response
is often used in gaming, but it also has
important industrial applications. When the
penalty for improper operation is costly,
such as airplane pilots, nuclear power plant
operators, or chemical plant operators, a
mock up of the actual control panel is
connected to a real-time simulation of the
physical response, giving valuable training
experience without fear of a disastrous
outcome.
 SELECTING
There is a realistic and accurate
representation of a system.
Clear set of directions must be
present in the software; models a
real or imaginary system.
Can model physical phenomena,
procedures, and hypothetical
situations.
 BENIFITS
Compress Time
-Students do not have to
wait for the living thing to grow and
develop its cycle in real time for this
can be presented in the simulation
software in just a couple of minutes.
Slow Down Processes
-Events or processes that
happen that is invisible to the
human eye can actually be played
in slow motion to enable the
students to see how such event or
process happens in reality.
Get Students Involved
-The participation of
the students is necessary for
them to be able to learn what
may happen in a particular
situation.
Make Experimentation
Safe
-Simulation
software is best in keeping the
students safe in learning some
things like driving vehicles,
handling volatile substances,
search and rescue situations,
Make the Impossible Possible
-Walking on the moon,
traveling to the universe, witnessing
the volcanoes erupt, are just few
examples of allowing the students to
experience the impossible and learn
the possible.
Save Money and Other
Resources
-Though learning by
doing is the best learning experience,
simulation software may still give
rightful learning experience at a
fraction of the cost, like dissecting
animals, hardware unit, and the like.
Allow Repetition with
Variations
-Simulations allow
students to repeat events many
times as they like until they
master the lesson they wish to
learn.
Allow Observation of Complex
Processes
-Simulation software
makes learning and understanding
of complex lessons and processes
easier for students to see what is
happening.
 LIMITATIONS AND
PROBLEMS
Criticism of Virtual Lab Software
-Students may not get actual
and quality learning if real experiments
will be taken in substitute virtual labs than
doing it in the hands-on-labs. Simulation
can just be used as supplements to regular
labs.
Accuracy of Models
- Simulation software
may given inaccurate or imprecise
perspectives of the subject matter:
Real experience is still better then
being replaced by substituted
learning experiences.
Misuse of Simulation
- There is a possibility
that students would unlikely to
develop effective problem-
solving skills due to plainly
mastering the activities given
simulation.
INSTRUCTIONAL
GAMES
The goal of each student practice strategy
in this program is to provide students who
have learning problems multiple
opportunities to respond to a particular
learning task. This is certainly true for
Instructional Games as well. Instructional
Games can also make practicing math
skills fun due to its game format.
 SELECTING
Appealing Formats and
Activities
-Adventure and levels
of complexity that match learners’
abilities make fun learning.
Instructional Value
-Instructional game should
serve as educational and
motivational tools which give
importance to the value of
learning.
Physical Dexterity is
Reasonable
-The purpose of
motivating the students should be
evident in the instructional game
and not the other way around.
Social, Societal, and
Cultural Considerations
-Instructional games
should highlight positive
messages rather than war and
violence among peoples of
different nations, beliefs, and
cultures.
 BENIFITS
Games are more interesting than
traditional instruction (Randel et al.,
1992)
Retention of information is longer
Assists teachers to get students to focus
on the topic
Makes learning more engaging and
motivational (Ash, 2011;Corbert,
 LIMITATIONS AND PROBLEMS
Learning versus Having Fun
-Some schools disagree in
incorporating games in instruction for
they believe that games draw away the
attention of the students from the real
purpose and that is learning the lesson.
Confusion of Game Rules
and Real-Life Rules
-Rules in games differ from
rules in real-life. Game rules may
give students difficulty in
transferring the skills learned
through games to real-life
situations.
Inefficient Learning
- Balance between motivation
and learning must be maintained in
the classroom so not to lose the
value of education when using
instructional games.
Classroom Barriers
-Instructional games sometimes
cannot be implemented in the classroom
due to some difficulties encountered,
such as requirements of the game
software do not match with the
specifications of computers in schools.