Teacher Cognitive Styles and Selection of Computer Courseware

This paper examines the search and selection strategies of teachers when retrieving information on computer assisted learning programs from an online database. A literature review covers cognitive factors in human computer interactions, database query and manipulation,lcognitive style, and information searching. Several experiments are reported that tested the disembedding effect of the presence of keyworft * in entries about computer assisted instruction programs and the:nfluence of teachers' cognitive style upon their search strategy and their success at retrieving appropriate information. Results are reported from a study with 77 undergraduate education students which indicate that the presence of keywords aids field dependent teachers when completing the tasks. The implications of these findings for the design of computer software are discussed. The report includes 5 figures, 8 tables, and 28 references. (Author/LMM) * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document.