Inconsistencies in the use of terminology to describe instructional treatments, confounding of discovery and expository methods with other aspects of instruction, and inconsistencies in defining independent and dependent variables within and between studies have all contributed to the lack of definitive conclusions about the effectiveness of…

Self-instructional booklets simulating computer-assisted instruction (CAI) were used to teach four basic concepts in science to first graders in three treatment groups which received different types of feedback--hints, correct answers, and right or wrong. A control group received neither instruction nor feedback. A multiple-choice test was…

Criticizes the statistical methods used in a previously published article that compared a commercially produced computer program with traditional teaching methods. Measures of instructional effectiveness are described, the assignment of student pairs is examined, and the use of blocking variables with analysis of variance is discussed. (LRW)

An experimental study compared the instructional effectiveness of Logo programming, commercially available software designed to aid composition and problem solving, and traditional teaching methods for low socioeconomic status first-grade students. Both software environments enhanced problem solving performance for a novel task, but Logo was most…