RUME 14 (Volume 4)
2011
Portland, Oregon
INQUIRY-BASED AND DIDACTIC INSTRUCTION IN A COMPUTER-ASSISTED CONTEXT
Page: 144
One direction taken by course reform over the past few years has been the development of sophisticated computer-assisted instruction. This approach has been applied to large-enrollment service courses in mathematics, including algebra. Elementary algebra is typically taken by under-graduate students who do not place into a credit-bearing course. Traditionally, the goal of such a developmental algebra course has been to enhance students' "algebra skills," for example, dealing procedurally with rational numbers and expressions. Higher-order thinking may be largely absent. Alternately, one might focus on developing quantitative reasoning and communications skills, rather than, or in addition to, training to acquire a set of specific algebraic skills (Wiggins, 1989; Blais, 1988). Our position is that incorporating an inquiry-based component, either together with, or in place of, a didactic component, into a computer-a instructional environment may enhance student learning. Two previous studies in the literature bear this out (Mayer, 2009, 2010).