Background and context: We address the question of what computer science students take the discipline to be. How students conceive the discipline can influence whether a student pursues computer science, what particular area within computer science they focus on and whether they persist in the discipline. In this paper, we examine the epistemic…

Learning vocabulary forms a major part for any language learner. Apart from direct teaching of vocabulary, language teachers are always searching for ways to increase their students' vocabulary to enable them to use the language more effectively. Therefore, this study sets out to investigate whether the use of computer textual glosses can aid…

A comparison was made between computer-managed instruction (CMI) and conventional instruction (CI) on measures of performance, time and attitude. The sample consisted of 167 undergraduates in a health education course at Florida State University. Of these students, 41 served as a control group and the rest were randomly assigned to one of three…

Three strategies frequently employed in individualized instruction were tested in a three-way repeated measures design that involved eight computer exercises over a period of 6 weeks. Exercises compared individual with paired study, pretests with no pretests, and serial with parallel mastery. Posttests revealed an advantage for individual study…

Compares PLATO and non-PLATO student performance in an introductory computer programing course at the University of Illinois. Results indicate that PLATO students would recommend PLATO to friends, that the drop rate was higher for PLATO students than for non-PLATO, but that performance was equal for both groups. (RAO)

This study examined the relationship between the timing of feedback in programmed instruction and the cognitive levels of the tasks involved. The subjects were 195 college students from the Principles of Accounting I course at the University of Texas at Austin. Three test groups--an immediate feedback treatment group, an end-of-session feedback…

This study investigated the effects of computer and print text density on learning, and the nature and effects of learner preference for different density levels in both print and computer presentation modes. Subjects were 48 undergraduate teacher education majors, who were assigned at random to six treatment groups in which a statistics lesson…

This study investigated whether an interactive video system of instruction taught cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as effectively as traditional instruction. Using standards of the American Heart Association, the study was designed with two randomized groups to be taught either by live instruction or by interactive video. Subjects were 100…

The two studies detailed in this paper investigated the effects of adaptive sequencing of examples and adaptive feedback on concept learning using computer-based instruction. In the first study, two groups of undergraduate students progressed through a set of five behavior management concepts presented in the rational set generator framework.…

This discussion of questions related to the most appropriate role for the computer in undergraduate postsecondary education begins by describing the Educational Testing Service's evaluations of two large-scale funded projects intended to stimulate the incorporation of computer assisted instruction (CAI) into undergraduate instruction--the…

This study focused primarily on two types of computer interfaces and the differences in academic performance that resulted from their use; it was secondarily designed to examine gender differences that may have existed before and after any change in interface. Much of the basic research in computer use was conducted with command line interface…

The effects of various interactive video instructional control options and practice on learning were examined in this study. The interactive video lesson was a 30-minute videotape designed to introduce cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Subjects were 48 graduate and undergraduate volunteers, none of whom had prior experience with CPR or…

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 paper contains the results of a study on the importance of discovery learning using computer simulations. The purpose of the study was to identify what constitutes discovery learning and to assess the effects of instructional support measures. College students were observed working with an assignment and a computer simulation in the domain of…

The effects of behavioral objectives and/or criterion test items on the learning process were investigated. The 123 subjects were randomly assigned to either an example-only, an objective-example, a test-example, or an objective-test-example group. Objectives significantly increased the amount of time subjects spent studying the example displays.…