Teaching Chemical Information:
Tips and Techniques

— August 1998 —

Independent Study: Advantages, Disadvantages and Considerations

Enables users to learn on demand and when they are motivated
Tutorial can be done independent of time and geography
User is able to stop for breaks and to repeat sections as needed
Easier to briefly review or skip sessions if not a beginner
Learning through written communication may be easier than learning through oral communication (e.g. English as a second language users)
Less ongoing staff time is needed for instruction
Experts can devise tutorial, even though they are located at a different institutions

Not possible to ask questions of instructor or to learn from questions asked by others learning the same topic
Density of presentation may be high because content must be self-contained
Individuals must be motivated enough to complete tutorial
Frequently takes novices longer to learn via tutorial than via classroom setting

Tutorials are very labor-intensive to devise
Hard to maintain especially if content in tutorial is changing rapidly
Should tutorial include practice problems or a quiz?
Using interactivity and examples to make tutorial more effective
Choosing the right media: audio, video, web, email, combinations?
Length of sessions — list total time needed, provide clear outline, and divide topics into modules
What equipment and other types of infrastructure is needed to deliver tutorial?
What level of user should you aim at?
Lobby producers to create tutorials
Use team to create tutorial