The purpose of this experimental study is to investigate the effects of using content acquisition podcasts (CAPs), an example of instructional technology, to provide vocabulary instruction to adolescents with and without learning disabilities (LD). A total of 279 urban high school students, including 30 with LD in an area related to reading, were…

A new computer assisted instructional program designed to increase decoding fluency in reading was evaluated for use with 20 learning disabled elementary grade children. After 10 weeks of daily 15-minute practice sessions, subjects showed substantial improvement on words practiced, words never practiced, and reading speed and accuracy. (Author/DB)

The study evaluated the role of instructional design in the field test and revision process for a computer-assisted instructional program with 26 secondary resource room students. Scores significantly favored students receiving the revised program. (Author/DB)

The effectiveness of software use alone or in combination with teacher intervention on the acquisition of multiplication facts was evaluated in a study of a 16-year-old male student with a specific mathematics disability. The computer assisted instruction alone produced only transitory effects, while the combined approach resulted in maintenance…

Evaluation of the use of social studies hypermedia (text only) study guides with 25 high school students, either learning disabled or receiving remedial instruction, found that the hypertext provided adequate reinforcement to move students toward continued, unprompted use of a hypermedia study guide, and that short-term and long-term retention of…

The study found that a computerized study guide was more effective than notetaking in increasing textbook comprehension with 18 remedial and 13 learning disabled ninth grade students in a world geography class. (DB)

Results of this evaluation study did not find that attribution retraining (embedded within a mathematics computer-assisted instructional program) had a significant impact on the attributions of 29 students with learning disabilities. However, students in the attribution retraining condition did complete more program levels and scored higher on…

The acquisition of multiplication facts by four elementary students with learning disabilities was compared under two instructional delivery formats--teacher directed and computer assisted. All students mastered more facts in the teacher-directed condition. In addition, teachers provided many more opportunities to respond and showed a higher…

Two studies were conducted to design and field-test hypertext computer study guides with 40 ninth grade students (10 with learning disabilities, 15 remedial, and 15 regular education). Findings indicated the computer study guide treatment was as effective as the lecture method; posttest scores and retention test scores were higher for the computer…

This study with 28 Netherlands children (mean age 9 years, 7 months) with written language disorders found that copying words from the computer screen resulted in significantly fewer spelling errors on the posttest than writing words from memory and that both these forms of practice led to fewer spelling errors than only reading the words.…

Comparison of two computer-assisted instructional vocabulary programs used with 25 learning disabled high school students indicated that the program utilizing smaller teaching sets and cumulative review exercises was more effective in helping students achieve mastery than the program using a large teaching set and no cumulative reviews. (Author/DB)

A study assessed the effects of assigned versus self-selected goals and contingent versus non-contingent gameplay conditions delivered during computer-assisted math computation drill-and-practice sessions. Subjects were 20 high-school students with learning disabilities. Self-selected goals were more effective; no differences existed between…

This study compared three motoric conditions (writing, tracing, and computer keyboarding) on the spelling performance of 48 third- and fourth-grade students with and without learning disabilities. No significant effect was found for either group. Interviews revealed that students preferred the computer condition but believed the writing and…

Eighteen average readers and 18 less-skilled readers (grades 8 and 9) were presented with social studies and science passages via a computer either visually (on screen), auditorily (read by digitized voice), or bimodally (on screen, highlighted while being voiced). Less-skilled readers demonstrated comprehension in the bimodal condition equivalent…

A study assessed whether the effects of computer-assisted practice on visual word recognition differed for 73 Spanish children with reading disabilities with or without aptitude-achievement discrepancy. Computer-assisted intervention improved word recognition. However, children with dyslexia had more difficulties than poor readers during…