Traditional education, employing lectures or telecommunicative instruction methods, has been very effective in providing topical facts. However, the development of student skills and thinking ability require higher levels of instruction and more opportunity to practice and apply acquired knowledge. As students progress through a particular…

This study investigated the effects of sequence and synthesis prescriptions from the Elaboration Theory by teaching the parts of a microcomputer system based on a parts-conceptual structure. A 2x3 factorial design was used which incorporated two sequences, general-to-detailed and detailed-to-general, and three levels of synthesizer, i.e., no…

A study of variations in pupils' prior knowledge for their influence on the sequencing mode of text presentation found prior knowledge reduced the effect of size of sequencing procedures. A second experiment comparing performance of pupils with low prior knowledge level using websequence and linear sequence found webteaching was superior.…

This study investigated the effects of different structures of a synthesizer and formats of the generality component on the application and remember levels of learning. Seventy-three undergraduates participated. Four treatment groups were formed by combining two types of structure (complete versus partial) with two types of format in generality…

Using the Component Display Theory as an analyzing tool, this study compared the effects of expository and discovery methods of instruction on two learning outcomes, application and transfer. One hundred ninth grade students in each of four earth science classes were randomly assigned to five groups--four experimental groups designed to test four…

This study explored the enhancement of comprehension of expository text by three specific types of embedded explication--etymological, causal, and analogical--together with momentum effects from sequencing. Four factors were examined: (1) the experimental effects of presenting the section of the script containing explications of new terms before…

Many basic skills are chains of cognitive operations. For teaching such skills, two questions have not been adequately investigated: (1) how the operations comprising the skill should be sequenced, and (2) the relationships among the operations that need to be taught. This investigation entailed four studies on different types and lengths of basic…

This study tested the effects of two instructional sequences--principle-procedure and procedure-principle--on the application and transfer of learning. It was hypothesized that a principle-procedure sequence would result in better near-transfer and far-transfer and that students would prefer this sequence. The 38 freshmen enrolled in a business…

Describes two experiments in Dutch secondary schools that were carried out to study the effect of the sequencing of the information in computer-assisted instructional programs. Instructional design for concept learning is discussed; successive and coordinate relationships between concepts are explained; and tests designed for procedural and…