The Leap to Efficiency: The Impacts of Peer Observation
Speaker
S. Camille Peres
Assistant Professor, Psychology Department, University of Houston
When
-
Where
Newell-Simon Hall 1305 (Michael Mauldin Auditorium)
Description
Although previous research shows that software is often used inefficiently, little is known about the factors that influence the relative efficiency of individual users. A series of studies investigating the efficiency levels of software users suggest that variables such as experience with the software, age/cohort, or profession are not related to the utilization of efficient techniques. Instead, this research suggests that knowledge of efficient methods is learned primarily through peers. There are many possible reasons for this, e.g., observing others provides an opportunity to learn new material, observing others makes the appropriate application of efficient techniques clearer, etc. One possible explanation that is particularly compelling is that a person’s cost/benefit calculation for using the newer, more efficient method is adjusted when he or she observes the efficient method being used. While there are numerous anecdotal reports in the literature regarding people learning software through peers, previous research regarding users’ acquisition and use of efficient methods has not explored the relation between cost/benefit analysis and the observation of peers. This talk will present an argument that one of the pieces missing in the understanding of how users acquire efficient methods is an accurate assessment of how people calculate a cost/benefit analysis (CBA) of learning and using new techniques and strategies. While there are many explanations for why people often are poor at calculating this ratio, there is little discussion of why some people are fairly good at it. We suggest that an important and predictable influence on whether an individual uses an accurate CBA is the observation of others using efficient techniques. We propose that with a fuller understanding of the CBA calculation process, it will be possible to predict when users will and will not utilize a more efficient technique. This understanding could have important implications for the theoretical basis of the development of selection rules and the impact of context on learning.
Speaker's Bio
S. Camille Peres received her doctorate in Psychology from Rice University in 2005. Her doctoral program focused on Human-Computer Interaction and during her first year as an Assistant Professor in Psychology at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, she has continued her exploration of the cognitive mechanisms associated with the acquisition of new skills. She is specifically investigating: 1) the mechanisms associated with acquisition and use of efficient methods, 2) the incorporation of simulations in the teaching of statistics, and 3) auditory graphs. While at Rice, she received the Laughery award for best master’s thesis and has been awarded several grants during her first year at the University of Houston-CL.
Host
Ken Koedinger