Although most of the hardware and some of the software had arrived by the fall semester, the decision was
made to wait until the spring before attemptingto use computers in the introductory course. Actually, only three of
the eight Simlabs units had arrived at that time, and, upon
investigation, we learned that the other units were still
under development. During the fall term, a small group
of advanced students, who were serving as teaching assistants for introductory psychology, began to review the
courseware. The students were simply given the individual
programs and the supporting documentation as delivered
and were asked to run through each program and provide evaluative feedback. Five questions were of primary
interest: Were students able to successfully complete the
activities? Were the directions sufficiently clear? Were
the programs interesting and/or instructional? Would the
material enhance the existing course? Was there enough
supporting documentation?