Learner preferences for varying screen density levels were examined using multiple screen designs (high external validity) and single screen designs (high internal validity). Subjects were 23 graduate and 23 undergraduate student volunteers. When viewing multiple screens for each design in Study I, they indicated the highest preference for medium…

During the past century, most research addressing the legibility of text in print has used adult subjects. The study reported in this paper investigated differences in reading rate and comprehension scores of eighth grade students reading from paper copy or computer screen. Three hundred eighth grade students in computer literacy classes were…

This paper explores the realm of evaluation within the domain of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS). Toward that end, Littman and Soloway (1988) described two facets of evaluation: external and internal. Described here are a variety of procedures that they did not address and some that they discounted. One of the procedures not explored was the…

The effects of different types of feedback in computer assisted instruction (CAI) on relational concept learning by young children were compared in this study. Subjects were 89 kindergarten students whose primary language was English, and whose performance on the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts was within the average range chosen from classes in a…

The performance of two groups of 24 third-grade students practicing division problems was used to assess the effect of microcomputer drill programs on learning. An experimental group that used computer drill programs from the Milliken Math Sequences package was compared with a similar group that learned division using the traditional print drill…

This document reports an experiment designed to assess the effects of learner control over the level of challenge in computer-assisted instruction (CAI) and collect data that will guide the design of future learner control experiments. The subjects were 78 undergraduate students in the College of Education at a large public university. The CAI…

In a study designed to see how students accommodated a new technology, 27 eighth graders used a microcomputer in a middle school science class to access a commercial videotex service containing an electronic encyclopedia as part of an assignment to write a theme. Field observations of computer use and student interviews were used to collect data.…

The effects of visual grouping strategies involving animated and static graphic presentations on learning were studied. Also studied was the ability of students to learn a scientific rule presented incidentally in an animated sequence in the hope of replicating results from previous research. A total of 39 fourth graders participated in an…

The effects of three types of pacing in microcomputer-based instructional programs were examined by evaluating learning competency on five achievement tests ranging in difficulty from memorizing facts to solving problems. Subjects were 100 first-term freshmen enrolled at Ohio State University who completed a microcomputer program on heart…

This paper proposes a method for studying the effect of an individual difference variable--field dependence-independence--on the ability of a student to read and understand text information presented on a computer screen. It is argued that in order to improve individualized instruction, learning must be related to predictions of what part of the…

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the animation of visual information when used in conjunction with text and static visuals in microcomputer-based instruction. Of particular interest were consequent performance on higher level learning tasks as a result of viewing these forms of visual presentation, and those levels of…

The effectiveness of learning paired associates from a computer-based drill strategy known as the progressive state drill was compared in this study with the effectiveness of having students use their own strategies with flashcards. Characteristics of the progressive state drill which make it a potentially effective drill and practice strategy for…

Differences between interactive microcomputer and traditional verbal learning groups in a paired-associate learning task were examined in this study. The 88 subjects, who were undergraduate education students, were randomly assigned to four groups. Each group was given one of two lists of ten high frequency words matched with either high or low…

The costs, effects, and utility of mathematics instruction supplemented by microcomputer presentations were compared with those of traditional classroom approaches for grades 3 and 5. The study was completed at a single school in a rural area of Saskatchewan, Canada, where two classrooms at each grade level were used in a pretest-posttest design.…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of behavioral and cognitive organizing strategies and varied processing intervals on factual and inferential learning. A total of 49 upper-division undergraduate and graduate students, who were randomly assigned to either a cognitive, behavioral, or individual orienting strategy group, received…