Development and evaluation of a computer adaptive system for enhancing hands-on skills

Abstract

This research develops a computer adaptive instruction system for enhancing hands-on skill (CAIS), which could assist students to clarify misconceptions and conduct remedial learning by themselves in fostering hands-on skills. The subjects were 35 students from grade 2 of the electronics department in a senior vocational school, Taiwan. Meanwhile, one-group pretest-posttest design was applied in the research. The results showed almost 60% of learners were able to correct their misconceptions by utilizing CAIS. At the same time, there was significant improvement in the interactions of conceptual and procedural knowledge as well as the hands-on skill performance. Moreover, the research examined the subjects` attitude with the In-depth interviews. Over 50% of learners considered CAIS was easy to operate and useful in clarifying their misconceptions as well as helpful to their hands-on skill learning. © Atlantis Press and the authors 2015.