Learner control in full and lean CAI programs

This study investigated the effects of two types of control over instruction (learner and program) and two modes of instructional programs (lean and full) on the achievement, option use, and time-in-program of 274 high-ability and low-ability students from grades 9 and 10. The basic instructional program in geometry was delivered by computer. Subjects under learner control scored significantly higher on the program posttest than those under program control, spent significantly more time in the program, and liked it better. Learner-control subjects appeared to “trust” their given version of the program, viewing many more optional screens in the full version than those in the lean one. High-ability learners adapted their study behavior to the lean version under learner control by choosing significantly more optional screens than their low-ability counterparts. This research was conducted while he was a graduate student at Arizona State University where Howard J. Sullivan is a professor in Learning and Instructional Technology.     

Learner control over full and lean computer-based instruction under differing ability levels

This study examined the effects of type of instructional control and program mode on the achievement, option use, time in the program, and attitudes of higher-ability and lower-ability university students. Ability level was determined using participants' Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Testing Assessment (ACT) scores. Participants were randomly assigned to four versions of a computer-delivered instructional program within higher-ability and lower-ability groups. The four versions of the instructional program were created by crossing the two control conditions (learner control, program control) with the two program modes (full, lean). Participants in the full program scored significantly higher on the posttest than those in the lean program, and higher-ability students scored significantly higher than lower-ability students. Learner-control participants chose to view 68% of the optional screens in the full program but only 35% in the lean one, and participants also spent significantly more time in the full version. Participants had more favorable attitudes toward learner control than program control.     

Text density level as a design variable in instructional displays

Presenting narrative text in computer-based instruction (CBI) is more difficult than in print lessons due to limited screen resolution and display area. The present research aimed at achieving a more compatible match between lesson content and the attributes of the presentation media. Subjects received either a print or CBI statistics lesson containing low-density (concise) narrative text, high-density (conventional) text, or the density type they preferred (learner-control). Results showed the low-density lesson to reduce completion time relative to the high-density version, while yielding equivalent achievement. Subjects receiving the lesson in the print mode had shorter completion times and higher achievement than their CBI counterparts. Attitude results showed that CBI was favorably regarded, but perceived as longer and slow-moving than print. Implications of results for designing instructional material in accord with CBI attributes and learner characteristics are discussed.     

Continuing motivation,learner control,and CAI

This study investigated the effects of learner control and program control on the achievement and continuing motivation of high school students. The influence of the availability of computer-delivered instruction on student motivation was also examined. Continuing motivation was measured by student choice of learner control or program control as the mode for a second instructional program after subjects completed an initial program under their randomly assigned mode. Results revealed a highly significant difference in continuing motivation favoring learner over program control. The differences in posttest performance and performance during instruction between learner and program control were not significant. The data also revealed significant preferences to study both science and an alternative subject when they are presented by computer over when they are not.The research reported herein was conducted while she was a doctoral student at Arizona State University.     

Uses and effects of learner control of context and instructional support in computer-based instruction

The present study examines uses and effects of learner-control of the context or theme of practice examples on a statistics lesson in combination with learner control of the number of examples examined. Subjects were 227 undergraduate students assigned to 15 treatments formed by crossing five context conditions (learner control, education, business, sports, no-context) with three instructional support conditions (learner-control, maximum, minimum). No differences in achievement were attained as a function of either treatment variable. Findings showed, however, that learners who received preferred contexts (i.e., learner-control-context subjects) selected a greater number of examples than those who received prescribed contexts. In addition, achievement was positively related to the frequency with which subjects varied the number of examples selected across lessons. Despite the absence of achievement benefits, the learner-control-context strategy elicited highly favorable student reactions as a learning orientation.     

Matching learner preference to amount of instruction: An alternative form of learner control

This study was conducted with 75 United States and Far East employees of a major corporation to investigate the effects of assigning learners to either the amount of instruction they preferred or to the contrasting amount. Subjects completed a 10-item Likert-type prequestionnaire to indicate whether they preferred a basic instructional program or a more comprehensive one, then were randomly assigned either to the type of program they preferred or to the opposite type. Subjects who received the amount of instruction that matched their preference scored significantly higher on the posttest, spent significantly less time in the program, and had significantly more positive attitudes on four of the six attitude items. Further research is recommended to determine the generalizability of the present findings to other subject populations.     

Learner control of context and instructional support in learning elementary school mathematics

Learner-control strategies for selecting problem context and the level of instructional support were examined separately and in combination on a computer-based mathematics unit on the metric system. Subjects were 240 sixth-grade students assigned to 15 treatments formed by crossing five context conditions (animals, sports, clothing, nocontext, and learner control) with three instructional support conditions (minimum, maximum, and learner control). As hypothesized, comparisons of instructional support conditions on posttest achievement showed performance to be lowest under learner control. Subjects opted to view very few items and to decrease the amount they selected over the course of the instruction. No effects were associated with the context variable, although on one of the three lessons, learner-control subjects made significantly fewer on-task errors than did no-context subjects. Further analyses showed a strong tendency by learner-control context subjects to vary their selection of contexts across lessons. Subjects in the context and instructional support learner-control strategies indicated positive attitudes toward the strategies.     

Control of feedback in computer-assisted instruction

Although considerable research has been conducted on both learner control and feedback, very little research has addressed the effect of giving learners control over the feedback that they receive. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of learner control over feedback in a CAI lesson. Subjects used one of four CAI programs which provided either program control or learner control over verification or elaboration feedback. Results indicated that subjects who received elaboration feedback during instruction performed better than students who received verification feedback. Type of control did not have a significant influence on performance. However, when subjects selected feedback for items answered incorrectly during instruction, subjects under learner control/elaboration performed better on the posttest than subjects under learner control/verification. Implications for the design of CAI are discussed.     

Student performance and attitudes using personalized mathematics instruction

This study investigated the effects of personalized instruction on the achievement and attitudes of Taiwanese students on two-step mathematics word problems. A total of 136 fourth-graders in a Taiwanese public school participated in the study. Subjects initially completed a Student Survey on which they chose their favorite foods, sports, stores, classmates, and other selections. The most popular items were then used to create personalized math word problems for the pretest, personalized instructional program, and posttest. Subjects were blocked by ability based on their pretest scores and were randomly assigned within ability levels to either a personalized or nonpersonalized version of the print-based instructional program. After finishing the program, subjects completed a student attitude survey and the posttest. A repeated-measures univariate analysis of variance revealed that subjects in the personalized treatment made significantly greater pretest-to-posttest gains than those in the nonpersonalized treatment. Subjects also performed significantly better on the personalized pretest and posttest problems than on the nonpersonalized problems. Personalized subjects and higher-ability students both had significantly more positive attitudes toward the instructional program than did their nonpersonalized and lower-ability counterparts. This research was conducted while he was a doctoral student at Arizona State University.     

Learner preferences and prior knowledge in learner-controlled computer-based instruction

This study examined the effects of prior knowledge, learner preference for control, and type of control (learner or program) on the achievement of middle-school students in a computer-based instructional program on adding and subtracting integers. Students were blocked by preference-for-control scores and randomly assigned to either a learner-control or program-control version of instruction. A significant three-way interaction (prior knowledge × preference scores × type of control) revealed that students with high prior knowledge achieved better on the posttest when their preference for control was matched with the type of control they received, whereas students with low prior knowledge achieved better when their preference was mismatched. A significant three-way interaction on attitude reflected the same pattern found in the interaction for achievement scores. The overall results indicate that matching learner preference to the type of program they receive is an effective strategy for high-prior-knowledge students but not for those with low prior knowledge.

Professional Conversations and Professional Growth

A professional development program for 18 teachers was conducted over a two-year period. The participating teachers taught in intermediate schools (students aged 11–13) and secondary schools. The teachers worked collaboratively to improve their mathematics teaching, with encouragement to reflect on their practice but with minimal instruction from the researchers. Results, as defined by change in teaching practices, beliefs, and reflections, and student achievement, indicated that the collaborative program was particularly useful for experienced secondary school teachers but less useful for intermediate school teachers. We concluded that this type of professional development was most useful for teachers who had sufficient knowledge of mathematics; these teachers were able to focus on pedagogy and to draw connections between aspects of the mathematics they taught, without recourse to a specialist's advice. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The relationship between learner control of CAI and locus of control among hispanic students

This study investigated achievement and motivation effects related to locus of control (internal and external) and three levels of learner control (no control, moderate control, and high control). The 101 seventh-grade and eighth-grade Hispanic subjects were classified as internal or external based on locus of control (loc) scores, blocked by sex and grade, then randomly assigned to the three levels of learner control in separate versions of a CAI instructional program in science. Internalloc subjects did not choose more en route practice than externals and did not perform better under high learner control. Theloc results raise questions about the usefulness of locus of control as it relates to instruction, at least with populations similar to the present one.     

Exploring the link among entry characteristics,participation behaviors and course outcomes of online learners: An examination of learner profile using cluster analysis

Online learner profiles have diversified such that now, they include all types of participants from a variety of backgrounds. This study analyzed online learner profiles in regard to their entry characteristics, participation behaviors and achievement of course outcomes. The sample consisted of 186 participants from an online course that required the employment of synchronous and asynchronous communication methods over the Internet. The data were collected through five online questionnaires and included 10 variables (gender, age, work status, self‐efficacy, online readiness, self‐regulation, participation in discussion list, participation in chat sessions, satisfaction and achievement). A two‐step cluster analysis, chi‐square analysis and multivariate analysis were used to analyze the collected data. The results indicated that online learners fell into three significantly different clusters and within each cluster, learners had a close combination of employment characteristics, gender type, age level, perception of self‐efficacy for online technologies and participation behavior level.     

The effects of search tool type and cognitive style on performance during hypermedia database searches

This study investigated the effects of search tools and learner cognitive styles on performance in searches for information within a hypermedia database. Seventy-five students in a university English as a Second Language (ESL) program were blocked for field dependence and assigned to one of four treatments: browser, index/find, map, and all tools. Subjects searched the hypermedia database, EarthQuest, for facts to answer practice and posttest questions on science topics. Results revealed a significant interaction between search tool and cognitive style. Field-independent learners performed significantly better than field-dependent learners under the index/find and map treatments. Subjects in the four treatment groups accessed information from the database differently. Furthermore, cognitive style was significantly related to achievement, tool use, and attitude. Implications for the design and instructional use of hypermedia databases are provided.     

Learner control modes and incentive variations in computer-delivered instruction

This study investigated the effects of two general approaches to the provision of learner control and of two types of incentive on achievement, use of options, time, and attitude using computer-delivered instruction. Posttest scores for the “FullMinus” treatment for learner control, where learners could selectively bypass elements of a full instructional program, were marginally higher than those for the “LeanPlus” treatment, where learners could opt to add elements to a core program (p=.052). The FullMinus treatment resulted in more positive attitudes while requiring no more time. Performance-contingent incentive groups had higher post-test scores than task-contingent groups (p<.05), with no greater investment of learner time and no negative effect on attitude. The findings relate directly to the design of instructional computer programs as well as to the design of future studies on learner control. The authors thank Professors Gene Glass, Norman Higgins, and Raymond Kulhavy for their contributions to this research.     

Book review of The School-to-Work Revolution

Middle-school boys at risk for behavior problems participated in a program designed to teach positive skills and provide incentives for academic achievement and following school rules. The program was administered via an intramural basketball program, in which the program components were taught by a male teacher who served as the coach. Participation depended on maintaining appropriate levels of academic achievement and adhering to school rules. Students who failed to meet the criteria for continuing participation were suspended from the program and received tutoring and counseling instead, until they met the criteria for resuming participation. Compared to a control group of similar students, participants displayed a large reduction in disciplinary sanctions, and large to moderate gains in academic achievement in all subjects but 1. Both the participants and their teachers perceived significant improvement in the participants' behavior across a wide range of student characteristics.     

The effect of instruction on socio-cultural beliefs hindering the learning of science

Although recent studies have shown that the sociocultural characteristics which children in non-western society bring into the classroom from their environment create a wedge between what they are taught and what they learn, very little has been done to solve the problem. A learner who is not positively disposed to, or has a socio-cultural background that is indifferent to, learning science would find it hard to learn science effectively. This study investigated whether instruction through the use of the socio-cultural mode has any significant effect on students' attitude towards the learning of science. The sample consisted of 600 senior secondary year-one students (442 boys, 158 girls) from 15 secondary schools in Nigeria. The Socio-Cultural Environment Scale (SCES) and the Biology Achievement Test (BAT) were used to measure the change in attitude and achievement of subjects in a pretest-posttest situation after a six-week treatment. Evidence was found to support the hypothesis that science instruction which deliberately involves the discussion of socio-cultural views about science concepts engenders positive attitudes towards the study of science. The findings also indicate that anthropomorphic and mechanistic views can be presented in such a way as to promote positive attitudes towards the study of science in traditional cultures.     

Altering socio-cultural beliefs hindering the learning of science

Recent studies in educational productivity and effectiveness of schooling have shown that certain factors could be altered within the classroom to result in enhanced achievement and positive attitude towards the study of science. A learner who is not positively disposed to, or has a socio-cultural background that is indifferent to the learning of science would find it hard to learn science effectively. If, as suggested by recent research, the socio-cultural characteristics which children in non-western society bring into the classroom from their environment create a wedge between what they are taught and what they learn, it is plausible to hypothesise that school based alterations of the socio-cultural prior knowledge of the learner could result in school effectiveness. This study attempted to determine whether or not instruction based on a socio-cultural model could significantly alter students' attitudes towards the learning of and achievement in science. The sample consisted of 600 senior secondary year one students (442 boys, 156 girls) from 15 secondary schools in Nigeria. The Socio-Cultural Environment Scale (SCES) and the Biology Achievement Test (BAT) were used to measure the change in attitude and achievement of subjects respectively in a pretest — posttest situation after a six-week treatment. Evidence was found from the study to support the hypothesis that science instruction which deliberately involved the discussion of socio-cultural views about science concepts altered students' attitudes toward the study of science. The finding also indicated that some socio-cultural factors were amenable to alterations in such a way as to promote the subjects' positive attitudes towards the study of science.     

钢琴教学法“以本辅专”教学模式构想

＂以本辅专＂是一种学习者自主学习、理论与实践相结合、＂以兵带兵＂的新型合作教学模式,也是一种变短期为长期、变集中为分散、变校外为校内的新型实习方式。强调学习者运用学习方法、设计方案和策略,建立目标进行自主学习,突出学习的积极性、主动性和创新性。这种教学模式是基于高师《钢琴教学法》实践环节薄弱而建构的,使困扰高师多年的这一难题迎刃而解。     

成就目标定向理论对高中英语自主性学习能力培养的启示

对于英语的学习,自主性学习能力非常重要。因为外语学习需要学生课外进行大量的听、说、读、写等方面的训练,并且结合课堂知识才能培养熟练的语言技能。在新课程改革下自主性学习能力的培养尤其具有重要意义。自主性学习是建立在内部动机基础上的。成就目标定向被认为是极其重要的动机因素。文章试图结合成就目标定向理论。就自主性学习能力的培养问题。进行简要探索,并得出对课堂教学的启示。