The use of contextualized learning environments with learners who are at risk of school failure arises from the recognition that students who are introduced to concepts and strategies out of a meaningful context will view them as irrelevant to daily life. Contexts created by teachers using videotape and random access videodisc technologies have…

Current issues in educational communications and technology are addressed in this collection of 47 conference papers in which research reports predominate. Topics discussed include factors related to the learner, e.g., learning strategies, information processing, spatial ability, cognitive style, and cognitive strategies. Presentation format and…

The relative effectiveness of verbal and visual augmentation of rate-modified speech in the presentation of technical material was investigated. Subjects were 40 graduate students who used instructional materials consisting of normal and compressed audiotape versions of the Dwyer heart script, printed copies of the script, and black and white…

WICAT Systems, Inc., produced a "proof of concept" instructional videodisc in college biology with support from the National Science Foundation. The project involved simultaneous development of content design, instructional strategies, software, and hardware, with a principal focus on evaluation of the instructional videodisc in the classroom.…

Two computer assisted instruction programs tested the effects of plain and enhanced screen designs with or without information about those designs and task-type on time and learning. Subjects were 140 fourth grade students in Lincoln, Nebraska who had extensive prior experience with computers. The enhanced versions used headings, directive cues,…

This study investigated the effects of two factors on learner performance during computer-assisted instruction: locus of control, and varied feedback strategies. It was hypothesized that learners who attribute their successes and failures to internal events (Internals) will perform best under delayed feedback conditions, while those who attribute…

This paper presents a definition of distance education and a rationale for it both in pragmatic, problem-solving terms and in relation to a larger view of society. The geographic, political, educational, and technological context of distance education in Canada is then discussed. Traditional correspondence courses, satellite-delivered credit and…

This study investigated the relationship between learner attitudes (self-efficacy and anxiety), students' selection of feedback containing different amounts of information (no feedback, correct answer, the explanation alone, and the answer with an explanation), and achievement. Subjects were two clusters of college students (N=49) enrolled in a…

Earlier versions of the four papers presented in this collection formed a symposium, "Children's Interactions with Television," at the 1982 International Congress of Applied Psychology in Edinburgh. In the first paper, "Children's Comprehension of Television Programs," Peter Rendell and Mary Nixon describe a study which…

This study investigated the effectiveness of the use of computer networking in providing guided practice in teaching reading comprehension to middle school students (grades 6-8) in remedial reading class. (Guided practice is defined as the phase of instruction immediately following the presentation of a new skill, concept, or strategy, in which…

This paper describes the general rationale, hypotheses, methodology, findings and implications of a recent dissertation research project conducted in the Columbus, Ohio, public schools. The computer-based study investigated the simultaneous relationship between achievement in microeconomics and attitude toward economics, level of computer anxiety,…

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…

Learner and program control of content review within computer assisted instruction (CAI) were studied to determine their effects on the posttest performance and attitudes of eighth grade students. The science-related instructional treatments were completed by 98 students who were blocked by gender and reading ability and randomly assigned to…

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…

Research was conducted to compare the effects of three different methods of teaching LOGO to fifth graders with a broad range of academic ability. The first method, based on Papert's idea of discovery learning, involved teacher presentation of LOGO instruction and student control of pace of learning. The second method involved the use of…