This study investigated the effects of several elements of instruction (objectives, information, practice, examples and review) when they were combined in a systematic manner. College students enrolled in a computer literacy course used one of six different versions of a computer-based lesson delivered on the web to learn about input, processing, storage and output of a computer. The six versions of the program consisted of (1) a full version that contained information plus objectives, practice with feedback, examples and review, (2) a version without objectives, (3) one without examples, (4) one without practice, (5) one without review and (6) a lean version containing information only. Results indicated participants who used one of the four versions of the computer program that included practice performed significantly better on the posttest and had consistently more positive attitudes than those who did not receive practice. Implications for the development of computer-based instruction are explored.

The purpose of this study was to compare traditional classification training for a set of abstract concepts with multiple-relations training consisting of inference practice and the use of a content diagram. To examine this, 200 undergraduate and graduate psychology students completed a Web-based tutorial covering the abstract concepts of a psychological theory of language and cognition. All participants received the same core instructional content and practice activities varied by experimental condition: some participants received classification training, some received multiple-relations training, some received a combination of both, and some received neither. Performance on a posttest with three subsections was evaluated. Participants who received classification training were significantly better at identifying new instances of the concepts than participants who did not. Neither classification training nor multiple-relations training had a significant effect on ability to identify concept definitions or answer application questions. Implications for the development of instruction for abstract concepts are discussed.

This study examined the effect of the pace of transitioning from worked examples to independent problem solving for students with three different levels of prior knowledge. Three paces of transitioning were examined: immediate transitioning, fast fading, and slow fading. The study was conducted with engineering college freshmen in the engineering knowledge domain of introductory electrical circuit analysis and found a significant interaction between the particpants' prior knowledge and the pace of transitioning to independent problem solving on retention posttest performance. The high prior knowledge participants achieved significantly higher retention scores under the fast and immediate transitioning than under the slow transitioning, whereas the low prior knowledge participants achieved significantly higher retention scores under the slow transitioning. The interaction result for retention indicates that by selectively employing slow fading for low prior knowledge learners and fast fading or immediate transitioning for high prior knowledge learners, significant improvements in learning may be achieved.

This study investigated the effects of teacher, self and peer evaluation on preservice teachers' performance, knowledge and attitudes. Earlier research by the same authors revealed that students made significant improvements in their lesson plans under all three of these conditions, but the teacher-evaluation improved significantly more than the two student-evaluation groups. Therefore, relevant training and practice in the evaluation process were added in this study. All three groups made significant improvements from draft to final version of their plans, and the differences between the teacher-evaluation group and the two student-evaluation groups were non-significant. The authors attribute the stronger performance of the student-evaluation groups to their training on the evaluation task. Students' overall attitudes were significantly more positive toward teacher evaluation than toward peer evaluation, but did not differ significantly between these two groups and the self-evaluators. Several suggestions are discussed for further improvements in the training of self and peer evaluators.

This study examined the effects of prior knowledge, learner preference for control, and type of control (learner or program) on the achievement of middle-school students in a computer-based instructional program on adding and subtracting integers. Students were blocked by preference-for-control scores and randomly assigned to either a learner-control or program-control version of instruction. A significant three-way interaction (prior knowledge × preference scores × type of control) revealed that students with high prior knowledge achieved better on the posttest when their preference for control was matched with the type of control they received, whereas students with low prior knowledge achieved better when their preference was mismatched. A significant three-way interaction on attitude reflected the same pattern found in the interaction for achievement scores. The overall results indicate that matching learner preference to the type of program they receive is an effective strategy for high-prior-knowledge students but not for those with low prior knowledge.

This study investigated self-presentation bias in the self-reports of teachers about their practices in six topic areas in educational technology (Instructional Design, Assessment, Learner-Centered Instruction, Curriculum Alignment, Attitudes about Computers, and Use of Computers with Students). Subjects were 50 middle-school teachers. Data were collected using a 30-item Likert-type survey containing five items per topic area. Teachers responded to items in two forms: “what I do” and “what other teachers do.” Significant differences favoring the “I” form were obtained in three of the six areas (Instructional Design, Learner-Centered Instruction, and Curriculum Alignment) and on nine of the 30 items, indicating a rather strong self-presentation bias. Responses were generally positive across both forms. Results are discussed with implications for working with teachers and for using additional assessment measures that complement teacher self-reports.

The study investigated the effects of three types of evaluation on preservice teachers’ performance, knowledge and attitudes related to writing lesson plans that incorporate technology. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment conditions: teacher-evaluation, self-evaluation or peer-evaluation. All groups completed three class periods of instruction on writing lesson plans, then each subject submitted his/her draft lesson plan. The drafts were evaluated by assigned evaluators (teacher, self or peer), who provided scores and written feedback on a 15-item rubric. Students then revised their lesson plans into final form. All three treatment groups improved their lesson plans significantly from draft version to final version, with the teacher-evaluation group showing significantly greater improvement and writing significantly better final lesson plans than each of the other two groups. Teacher-evaluation and self-evaluation groups had significantly higher scores on a knowledge-based posttest than the peer-evaluation group. Several suggestions are discussed for making further improvements in the self-evaluation and peer-evaluation processes.

A common practice in the design of educational software programs for children is to build into those programs animated characters who teach, guide, and help users. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of instructional character age, as operationalized by grade level, and sex on subjects' expectancies and preferences for those characters. A paper survey was administered to 64 students in 3 second-grade classes and 59 students in 3 fourth-grade classes. All classes were from one school. Subjects rated their fun expectancies, learning expectancies, and teacher preferences for each of four characters (a same-grade girl, a girl two grades higher, a same-grade boy, and a boy two grades higher). Each of the three rating sets were analyzed using a 3-way ANOVA (Character Type x Subject Grade x Subject Sex) and with alpha at .02. Subjects tended to rate characters in this rank order from highest to lowest: same-sex older-grade, same-sex same-grade, opposite-sex older-grade, opposite-sex same-grade characters. There were a few exceptions: The opposite-sex older-grade characters were rated higher than the same-sex same grade characters overall for learning expectancy, by female subjects for teacher preference, and by fourth-grade subjects for teacher preference. Character Type x Subject Sex interaction effects on fun-expectancy and teacher-preference ratings indicated that male subjects used the sex dimension more and females used the grade dimension more when deciding on ratings. A Character Type x Subject Grade interaction for teacher-preference ratings indicated that fourth-graders used the grade dimension more than second-graders. The researcher also interviewed subjects about the reasons for their ratings and analyzed the interview data qualitatively. It was concluded that instructional character age and gender might be manipulated to influence motivation and learning expectancies. Recommendations are made for the design of instructional characters based on the results.

Electronic performance support systems (EPSS) deliver relevant support information to users while they are performing tasks. The present study examined the effect of different types of EPSS on user performance, attitudes, system use and time on task. Employees at a manufacturing company were asked to complete a procedural software task and received support from either an intrinsic, extrinsic, external performance support system or no system at all. Results revealed significant differences on performance, attitudes and use between several treatment groups. The study suggests that providing any kind of EPSS to support task performance is better than having none at all. In addition, designers can improve user performance, attitudes and use by creating systems that integrate with the primary work interface.

Introduction Forty years ago, Robert Gagne published the first edition of his book The Conditions of Learning (1965) in which he proposed nine events of instruction that provide a sequence for organizing a lesson. These events remain the foundation of current instructional design practice (Reiser, 2002; Richey, 2000). They represent desirable conditions in an instructional program and increase the probability of successful learner achievement in the program (Gagne, 1965, 1985, 1988; Gagne, Briggs & Wager, 1992). Other authors cite similar elements of instruction that promote student learning from an instructional program (Dick & Carey, 1996; Sullivan & Higgins, 1983). Gagne (1985) defined instruction as “a set of deliberately planned external events designed to support the process of learning.” He noted that a designer or instructor controls these external events, and that learners control their own internal learning processes. His external events of instruction were conditions for facilitating effective learning processes in students. The individual events that Gagne incorporated into his model have been the subject of a substantial body of research. However, many of these events may produce a much different effect when they are studied individually than when they are combined into a more complete set that incorporates most or all of Gagne’s nine events. As Hannafin (1987) noted, some design strategies may have positive effects when used in isolation that are diminished or negated when these strategies are used in combination with more powerful techniques. A research design that incorporates most of Gagne’s events of instruction into a quite complete version of an instructional program, then systematically deletes selected events from other versions, has the potential to identify the events that are most powerful in promoting student learning. That type of design was used in the present research. The events from Gagne’s model that were directly incorporated into the study were objectives, information, examples, practice with feedback and review. The research literature on each of these events is briefly reviewed below.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of control type (learner and program control) in computer-based instruction on middle-school students with varying levels of prior knowledge and preference for control. Ninety-nine sixth- and seventh-grade students participated in the study. The computer-based instructional program called Operations with Integers contained eight objectives that taught students how to add and subtract two one-digit integers. Students completed a 12-item pretest to measure prior knowledge and a 16-item Learner Preference Scale to indicate their preference for control. Students were blocked by preference-for-control scores and randomly assigned to either the learner-control or program-control version of instruction. Under program control, students viewed every example and practice-and-feedback opportunity. Under learner control, students could choose to bypass the remaining examples and practice-and-feedback opportunities for each objective after completing the first problem of each type. Analysis of achievement scores with a general linear model revealed a significant three-way interaction between prior knowledge, control type, and preference for control. The pattern of the interaction was that high-prior-knowledge students achieved relatively better on the posttest when their preference for control was matched with the type of control they received (high-preference-for-control received learner control and low-preference-for-control received program control), whereas low-prior-knowledge students achieved relatively better when their preference for control was mismatched with the type of control they received. High-preference-for-control subjects viewed significantly more optional elements than low-preference subjects and spent significantly more time in the program under both learner and program control. A 2x2x2 MANOVA on attitude scores also revealed a significant three-way interaction between control type, preference for control, and prior knowledge that reflected the same pattern found on the achievement data. High-prior-knowledge students had more positive attitudes when their preference for control was matched with the type of control they received, and low prior knowledge students had more positive scores when their preference for control was mismatched with the type of control they received. The findings indicate that high-prior-knowledge students have a tendency to achieve better and have more positive attitudes when they receive the type of control they prefer, whereas the opposite is true for low-prior-knowledge students.

A total of 341 Latvian students and eight teachers participated in this study of student self-evaluation and teacher evaluation. Students completed a 12-lesson teacher-directed instructional program on conducting and writing a report of their own experimental research. Sixteen classes were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: (1) no in-program evaluation, (2) self-evaluation and revision at the research design and draft final report stages, (3) teacher evaluation and student revision at both stages, (4) self-plus-teacher evaluation and student revision at both stages. Students in the teacher-evaluation and self-plus-teacher evaluation conditions received significantly higher ratings from an independent rater on their final research reports. However, students under the self-evaluation conditions had greater confidence in their ability to conduct future experiments.

The positive effects of collaborative learning in a face-to-face environment are well known. However, little empirical research exists to determine if such effects transfer to a computer-mediated environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of computer-mediated collaboration on solving ill-defined problems. Participants first worked through a Web-based instructional program that taught them a four-step problem-solving process. Then they worked in computer-mediated dyads or alone to apply the steps to solve a realistic problem scenario. Results indicated that participants who worked in computer-mediated collaborative dyads performed significantly better than did participants who worked alone. The results also indicated that dyads spent significantly more time than participants in the individual treatment. Both treatment groups had positive attitudes toward working collaboratively, Internet-based instruction, and transfer of problem-solving skills. Implications for the implementation of computer-mediated collaboration in distance learning are discussed.

This study investigated the effects of teacher evaluation and the combination of teacher evaluation and student self-evaluation on student performance and attitudes. Participants in the study were 189 Latvian high school students and their six teachers. The six teachers were assigned to one of three treatment conditions: (a) no evaluation, (b) teacher evaluation, and (c) self-evaluation plus teacher evaluation. All groups completed a 12-lesson instructional program on how to conduct experiments and produce research reports. Students in the teacher-evaluation group received teacher evaluation on their initial research reports. Students in the self-plus-teacher evaluation group self-evaluated their reports and received teacher evaluation on them. The no-evaluation group received no formal evaluation instructions. Students in the teacher-evaluation and the self-plus-teacher evaluation groups received significantly higher ratings on their final projects than those in the no-evaluation group. However, the no-evaluation group had more favorable attitudes toward the program than the other two groups, while the self-plus-teacher evaluation group was significantly more confident of their ability to independently conduct future research experiments.

This study investigated the effects of personalized instruction on the achievement and attitudes of Taiwanese students on two-step mathematics word problems. A total of 136 fourth-graders in a Taiwanese public school participated in the study. Subjects initially completed a Student Survey on which they chose their favorite foods, sports, stores, classmates, and other selections. The most popular items were then used to create personalized math word problems for the pretest, personalized instructional program, and posttest. Subjects were blocked by ability based on their pretest scores and were randomly assigned within ability levels to either a personalized or nonpersonalized version of the print-based instructional program. After finishing the program, subjects completed a student attitude survey and the posttest. A repeated-measures univariate analysis of variance revealed that subjects in the personalized treatment made significantly greater pretest-to-posttest gains than those in the nonpersonalized treatment. Subjects also performed significantly better on the personalized pretest and posttest problems than on the nonpersonalized problems. Personalized subjects and higher-ability students both had significantly more positive attitudes toward the instructional program than did their nonpersonalized and lower-ability counterparts.

This article describes a formative evaluation of a one-day introductory computer-based training (CBT) course for a new on-line financial and purchasing system at a large public university. The purposes of the evaluation were to evaluate the effectiveness of the training and to identify appropriate revisions and incorporate them into the training program. Participants were 78 university employees who were likely future users of the financial and purchasing system. The mean score on an on-line performance posttest that simulated real-work tasks was 94%, and the mean on a 40-item knowledge posttest covering the CBT content was 74%. Learner attitudes toward the course were positive, averaging 4.4 on a 5-point scale. Formative evaluation of the program resulted in revisions that had the potential to improve its effectiveness and provided evidence of the value of ongoing formative evaluation of workplace training.