Measuring learning resource use

Abstract Contact time is only part of a student's learning, especially in higher education, and teachers and lab classes are only two of the resources students draw upon. Despite this, there is a prevalence of studies which appear to be evaluating a piece of courseware in isolation. Learning gains from a CAL package are important, but since acquisition and retention of knowledge is really what is ultimately important and will depend on other learning experiences in the course, an additional question in any learning situation therefore is: what resources is a student using? And, following up on that, which are most useful, are some better than others, or do they complement each other in essential ways? This paper describes the design and application of the Resource Questionnaire, the instrument we are developing in an attempt to gather information on the learning resources used by students. The resources asked about may include not only lectures, tutorials and courseware, but books, handouts, notes and discussions with other students. Some preliminary results are described and the importance of this information to teaching staff in assessing and increasing the value of the resources to students by ensuring their effective integration into a course, is discussed.