Work in progress - Lessons-Constructor-Analyzer paradigm (LCA) and the Animated Database Courseware (ADbC)

The teaching learning process can be fairly complex, especially when students encounter abstract concepts. Research shows that student learning is facilitated when students are provided with multiple channels of instruction, opportunity for practice and accompanying feedback loops. One supplemental instructional vehicle is the use of educational software. We propose a paradigm by which instructional software can be designed, modeled, implemented and evaluated. The paradigm, referred to as lessons-constructor-analyzer (LCA), divides classroom activities into three groupings, Lessons, where material is presented to the students and a set of basic questions asked, Constructor, where the student has a microworld or a simulator in which to practice and develop skill, and analyzer, in which assessment and evaluation of learning takes place. In this paper, we describe how the LCA paradigm can be applied against the evaluation of instructional software through the example of our development of a set of software animations designed to support the teaching and learning of database concepts known as the Animated Database Course (ADbC). Faculty and student evaluations indicate that the application of the LCA paradigm to the development and incorporation of the ADbC software has been effective. ADbC is supported by NSF Grant # 0717707.