Certification Of The Experts On Information Technologies

Igor R. Kuznetsov

This paper describes an approach to system organisations of checking the knowledge and skills teach on using of separate software for information technologies and other technical disciplines of university curriculum.

(information technology, computer training system, distant control)

The conflict between increasing of volume of knowledge and limited time for training raises the requirements to quality of training. A perspective direction in intensification of training is the application of the automated training systems, allowing effective solving didactically tasks both for separate trained person and for educational groups. One of directions of development of information technologies of training can be served also with use of a global computer network Internet in which can be placed such systems on various disciplines.

The automated training systems are based on modern means of computer facilities and make a basis of computer technologies of training. Some of them use means and methods of artificial intelligence for support of supervising functions of system and analysis of a method of the task decision of a trained person. As a rule such systems are developed by experts in artificial intelligence and have narrow orientation to a concrete subject domain.

The special monitoring systems can consist not only in a subject domain but also in organisation of the full-function control behind trained person activity. Major aspect of functioning of such system is the control of educational activity including operative, boundary, final control and also self-checking trained person.

The lack of the traditional forms and methods of the control is that in most cases they do not provide necessary stability and invariance of estimation, adequacy of this estimation to the valid level of knowledge. It is clear that only use of the automated system allows standard the control in the large trained groups.

From the mathematical point of view the control represents a task on check of statistical hypotheses on the limited sample in conditions of mistakes I sorts (overestimate of an estimation) and II sorts (understating of an estimation) that can be solved probability methods.

From the technical point of view the automated monitoring system should include two basic rather independent elements: the program environment representing specially created software and subject filling — original methodical materials on concrete discipline. The advantage of such approach consists in its independence of concrete discipline and kind of the control. Thus the considered system can be applied on all grade levels.

Generally the supervising program should contain the following components:

• The module of registration and initialisation ensuring preparation for work of the basic modules;
• Information base containing materials of a subject domain and storing results of the control;
• Processing modules allowing to carry out dialogue with the user to analyse results of the answers and to bring them in information base;
• The module of distribution of results of interrogation.

The realisation of such program environment of the monitoring system under MS Windows environment was executed in St.-Petersburg State Electro Technical University (ETU). The technique of realisation of the control depends on opportunities of computers and available software. The presentation of questions and tasks in technical disciplines as the various circuits, oscillation curves and so on is very important. The program environment must have in this case the appropriate properties. It is necessary previously to prepare the diagrams, electrical circuits for questions and answers. Certainly a program can carry out the construction of the circuits and diagrams however for the training and supervising programs this way is irrational. It is more convenient to create figures, circuits, drawings and the like with the help of the graphic editors, deducing files with the ready images on the screen on a course of performance of the program.

As the language standard HTML used for creation of the documents Internet allows to include sound and animation graphics files at accommodation of such system in a network it is possible create variants of the tasks by adding their appropriate representation of the information.

Thus the script of dialogue with the pupil and realisation not only passive but also his active interaction with the computer that is the organisation of the interface is very important. The interface we shall understand a set of receptions of interaction of the user with the computer. The efficiency of the interface consists in fast as far as it is possible development at the users of simple conceptual model of interaction that is achieved through a co-ordination. The concept of a co-ordination is when user work with the computer the system of expectation of identical reactions on identical actions is formed that constantly supports the user model of the interface.

The developed environment gives the teacher an opportunity of flexible and fast change of structure of the test on any section of controllable discipline. The teacher can at own discretion:

• To add new and to delete available disciplines;
• To add the new tasks on any discipline and also to change or to delete already available;
• To change number of variants of each task (in any task there is an opportunity to add new questions, to interchange the position, to delete and to change already available).

The important element of the interface is accommodation of the showed information on the screen of the computer. Thus the monitoring system can be considered not only as a means of transfer of the concrete contents, but also from the point of view of aesthetic perception (recognition). Thus during creating a program environment it is necessary to consider principles of configuration of graphic means of representation of the information produced in various applied areas of art designing. This moment is also important because the most part of the information the man receives on the visual channel (83 %). On the acoustical channel it is necessary about 11 %, and 7 % of the information is perceived by other sense organs. Thus it is necessary to take into account that the recognition of the graphic information occurs faster as to comprehend the information transmitted on the acoustical channel, it is possible only listen up to the end the logically completed idea.

The considered technology of the control of knowledge was fixed in a basis by development of the test tasks of a discipline “Information technologies”, read to the students, of ETU.

The results received with the help of the control technology represent as a matter of fact personal rating of the student. This rating can be taken into account at reception of offsets and examinations in a material of sections of a rate including in the program of check of knowledge, however should not completely replace estimations received at personal dialogue of the teacher and the student. Determined with the help of the program the average number on rather large sample of test questions actually reflects a level of development of the given theme or even of all discipline according to the accepted five-grade system and can be directly included in the appropriate reporting.

With the purpose of unification of the control of knowledge and skills the two-level technology of the control including the automated test of check of knowledge and the certified task for check of skills is offered. The restriction of time of a choice of the answers on questions between which can be a several correct allows to estimate depth of study of a material. The automated test does not require presence of the teacher. The second stage of the control passes under the direction of the teacher and requires performance of the several tasks for the limited operating time.

The check of the given technology was carried out on Microsoft software products. The students executed both stages of the control and typed the given number of scores; receive the certificate of the established sample on behalf of the ETU Authorised Microsoft educational centre.

Опубликовано: тезисы доклада на НТК "Современные технологии обучения", сб. Материалы 5-й международной конференции "Современные технологии обучения", Изд-во С.Пб. ГЭТУ, 1999