Assessment of the Use of CAL to Replace Remedial Biochemical Calculation Tutorials

Abstract

A number of students at the early stages of our courses have problems with the correct use of units and basic concentration calculations. These problems are easily addressed by remedial tutorials. A PC Computer Assisted Learning (PCCAL) package from Bath University (UK) on "Basic calculations" was loaded onto the Erasmus Darwin network. The programs were used initially with a small group of second year part-time Bachelor of Science Biomedical students (11 students) to assess if the package could replace previously used remedial tutorial time. The part-time students received one introductory tutorial on how to access the programs and their content. In addition, they also undertook a short pre-program test. For the following three weeks the students used the PCCAL program in the Erasmus Darwin computer resource room (ED290) in place of the remedial tutorial. At the end of the tutorial sessions the students were again subjected to a short post-program test and a verbal feedback session. All the students showed an improved score on the test taken after using the computer programs. In the verbal feed back session the students enjoyed the fact that they could work at their own pace on the packages and that the material got progressively harder. It was decided to test the programs' effectiveness with a larger group of students and to link the assessment of the packages to a pre- and post-computer session multiple-choice question (MCQ) test.