Authors
Peter Caputi, Amy Chan, & Rohan Jayasuriya
Abstract
This paper examined the impact of training strategies on the types of errors that novice users make when learning a commonly used spreadsheet application.
Fifty participants were assigned to a counterfactual thinking training (CFT) strategy, an error management training strategy, or a combination of both strategies, and completed an easy task (assessing direct application of the skills learned) followed by a hard task (assessing adaptive transfer). Even though there were no objective differences in performance across conditions, a positive relationship was found between errors and task performance for the CFT and combined conditions in the hard task.
These preliminary findings indicate the usefulness of examining not only task performance but also types of errors when assessing the effectiveness of software training strategies.
Sample
Key conclusions include:
- The prevalence of error types is related to specific training strategies and task difficulty.
- In a training strategy that includes counterfactual thinking, a positive relationship is found between errors and task performance.
Publication
2011, British Journal of Educational Technology, Volume 42, Number 4, July, pages 592-597
