The negative judgment about computers reached by Siegfried and Fels in their article, "Teaching College Economics: A Survey" (Journal of Economic Literature, September 1979) is questioned. There are research questions in need of answers before economists reject the generally positive picture across disciplines of the efficacy of computer…

A review of the literature on computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in health sciences education suggests that problems in research methodology make the research results less than helpful. Improved methodology, better knowledge of computer and software capabilities, attention to instructional settings, and attention to costs would improve CAI…

Proposes directions to help researchers balance instructional technology goals with the performance of well-designed and scientifically sound studies. Issues concerning the external validity of studies, use of media replications, and learner control as a means of adapting instructional strategies to individuals are emphasized, and designs for…

A review of computer assisted instruction research and recent meta-analytical reports suggests that all research on the learning benefits of the instructional uses of computers should be halted until there is a plausible reason to expect that computers are instrumental in learning, since all existing evidence indicates that computers do not yield…

This review considers two major areas--research on educational media and research on school media centers (learning resource centers). Research reviewed in this report is limited to studies carried out in public school settings or that deal with issues of concern in public education. An introduction discusses the changing definition of…

This examination of the research on computer-based instruction for the major academic subjects in the elementary and secondary grades considers three varieties of empirical data--surveys of computer-using teachers, school district program evaluations, and experimental field studies. A discussion of the findings of two national surveys of…

Discussion of Logo use to teach children computer programing covers the educational theory behind Logo, how it differs from other programing languages, its educational promise, its graphics capabilities, Logo research, and different versions available. It is argued that educational computing will succeed only if it provides new ways of teaching.…

Computer-based instruction (CBI) studies analyzed by Kulik et al. were examined to explore the validity of competing claims about the computer's contribution to measured achievement gains. Results suggest achievement gains found in CBI studies are overestimated and are due to uncontrolled but robust instructional methods embedded in CBI…

In the first of four symposium papers, Clark reviews the research on learning from media and uses his argument that media comparison studies show no differences in learning attributable to any one medium over another to dispute recent research on computer-assisted instruction. He also takes the position that the media attribute argument (i.e.,…

Reports on a study by Henry Becker that surveyed the research comparing the achievement of students using computer to those using traditional methods of instruction. Problems with many earlier studies are described, best-evidence synthesis is explained, effect size is examined, and implications for future research are suggested. (LRW)

Three major themes distilled from a review and analysis of research on learning from interactive video are discussed in this paper: (1) interactive video as an instructional delivery system, including research on instructional effectiveness, cost effectiveness, and instructor/learner attitudes; (2) principles of learning applied to interactive…

The suspected sources of confounding in current meta-analytic studies of computer based instruction (CBI) are uncontrolled effects of instructional method and/or the John Henry Effect (i.e., compensatory rivalry). To determine which confounding is most plausible, a random 30% sample of the 128 studies which formed the original Kulik meta-analyses…

Provides an overview of research on the effectiveness of microcomputer applications with at-risk students and suggests that many findings in the literature are questionable because of flaws in research methodology. Issues relating to measurement, learning environment, computer utilization, gender, and socioeconomic status are addressed, and…

The development phases of an operational computer managed instruction (CMI) system include planning, when the instructional model is designed; acquisition, when instructional system specifications are prepared; implementation/operation, which provides for the resolution of operational problems; evaluation, when the system is tested; and…

Reviews the literature discussing the effects of instructional software and hardware in elementary and secondary education and reports on recent developments. Topics discussed include criticism of studies on the effects of instructional software; research needs; authoring languages; simulations; intelligent computer-assisted instruction;…