On the Evaluation of a Structural Information Metric for Syllabus Suitability

Abstract

We present an evaluation of a method that can be used to gauge the suitability of a syllabus among several alternative syllabi for the same knowledge subject. The method can be useful in aiding to adopt a particular lesson plan for actual instruction, instead of adopting a lesson plan of unknown educational impact. Two limited knowledge areas are chosen from computer science and mathematics and our evaluation is done with human volunteers who have knowledge and (some) work experience with the tested knowledge areas. Our findings provide evidence that the tested method may serve as a viable approach for judging the suitability of alternative lesson plans.