Evaluation
Learning Software and instructional Context We are evaluating this software in the framework of an early high school mathematics class. This class would be for freshmen and sophomores of both males and females. The students would have a variety of learning styles including auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. There are a few students with individualized education programs. They have a variety of disabilities, ranging from behavioral disorders to physical or sensory disorders. This software will not be integrated into the actual instruction or assessment of our course, but it will be available to the students for extra practice and as an award for finishing work early. The use of this software will be encouraged for the students that are struggling to grasp the concepts gone over by the course instructor. Our classroom will be equipped with a few Macintosh computers in the back of the room. There will not be enough for every student, so occasionally students will have to share computers. The main technical support available is going to be through the teacher's knowledge of the software and the computers. Review of Software Evaluation Form: Haugland/Shade Developmental Scale Revised Edition Title: Geometry Blaster Publisher: Davidson and Associates Inc. Date Evaluated: 10/30/01 Evaluated by: Chad Hey, Ben Jablonski, and Andrew Kelch Description: Covers an entire year of high school geometry including 52 subject areas. It Copyright 1996
contains multimedia activities, animated chalkboard lessons, and a glossary of over 150 geometry terms. It also tracks individual progress and provides onscreen assistance. Age Appropriate: This software has three different levels of difficulty to accommodate for students of various age and ability levels. While the mathematical level is appropriate for students of all high school ages, the story line is more appropriate for early high school or middle school students. Child in Control: This software gave a large amount of control to the student. The opening menu was very open ended and allowed the student a lot of latitude on where they wanted to start. Learning to navigate the software was very much a trial and error process. The activities were not timed, so students were not pressured into finishing anything quickly. It was also very easy to escape from an activity and start another one at any point. Clear Instructions: The choices were presented in pictures, but it was not always completely clear what each picture meant. There is a help menu available, but instructions are not clearly presented at the beginning of each activity either verbally or visually, although the activities were fairly self-explanatory for the most part. Expanding You Complexity: are able to enter at various levels of complexity. Each activity had a menu of geometric concepts that could be used, but no guidance was given about what order they should be done. There also was not a clear link between one concept or activity to another. The software definitely contained a lot of very powerful math ideas, but there were so many of them that it might be hard for students to go through them with any sense of direction. Independence: Students do not really need to be supervised when using this software.
There is not a whole lot of off task behavior that can be engaged in, and students should be able to figure out all of the activities by cross referencing the lessons and using the help menu. Non-Violence: We did not observe any visual displays of violence, but there were some animated characters that started heckling us without any provocation. This is a possible source of distraction to the learning, but it also provides some entertainment value. Process Orientation: The activities in this software by no means encourage discovery learning. They primarily have students practice specific math skills and procedures. This software motivates students by providing engaging puzzles and integrating a story line and games into the mathematics. Real World Model: This program did not really integrate any of the real world applications of geometry. The activities were based more in the abstract than in situations and skills that would come up outside of the game. Technical Features: This software has colorful animation with realistic sound effects and entertaining music. It a...