In order to provide an on-demand, open electrical engineering laboratory, we developed an innovative software-based Virtual Open Laboratory Teaching Assistant (VOLTA). This web-based virtual assistant provides laboratory instructions, equipment usage videos, circuit simulation assistance, and hardware implementation diagnostics. VOLTA allows…

Group awareness can affect student online learning while self-regulation also can substantially influence student online learning. Although some studies identify that these two variables may partially determine learning behavior, few empirical studies or thorough analyses elucidate the simultaneous impact of these two variables (group awareness…

Few studies have investigated the effects of the instructions provided in educational computer games on cognitive processing and learning outcomes. In our experiment, we sought to compare the effects on learning outcomes of two different types of goal-oriented instructions: "mastery-goal" instructions, which prompt learners to develop…

The pretest-posttest design referred to as Design 2 by Campbell and Stanley (1963) is commonly used in educational research and evaluation. The tenability of the assumption of a zero population difference commonly used with this design is questioned. A nonzero population estimate based on the mean difference observed in test-retest reliability…

In the second year of a study to compare and evaluate programed and conventional instruction in algebra for the ninth and tenth grades, comparisons of the control and experimental groups in each grade were again based on scores from the Lankton First-Year Algebra Test and the California Study Methods Survey (CSMS). Although there was a…

Ninth and tenth grade students from two schools were placed in experimental and conventional instruction classes to compare the two methods in teaching algebra by means of achievement test and time needed to complete the course. Pre- and posttests measured aptitude; teachers and students in the experimental groups recorded personal reactions to…

To determine if the ethnocentric perceptions of students would be influenced by participation in a 3-week social studies unit on "The Contributions of Minority Ethnic Groups to American Civilization," a study was made utilizing 114 students in five 12th grade social studies classes (three experimental and two control). The investigation attempted…

When two groups, initially dissimilar, undergo different treatments, can subsequent differences be partitioned in such a way that the difference between the two treatments is unbiased? This is the central problem of this paper, and it is confronted by the examination of two levels of information using a Follow Through Evaluation. The first…

An application of evaluation methodology to innovative educational programs through a case study of a Chicago suburban high school program for alternative education is presented. The evaluation methodology encompasses the difficulty in combining comparative programs, individual-diagnostic, and individual developmental measures, the selection of…