Advantages

• 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

Disadvantages

• 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

Considerations

• 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

Examples

CAS Tutorials  (PDF file)

Next

Return to Teaching Chemical Information
 

Last Modified: June 05, 1997
Stanford University Libraries/Academic Information Resources