Summarizes an experiment carried out in 1980 with students enrolled in a music theory course for nonmusic majors. Results indicated that competency-based techniques for drill and practice, used by the experimental group on the PLATO system, were more effective than traditional assignments used by the control group. (EAO)

The two studies detailed in this paper investigated the effects of adaptive sequencing of examples and adaptive feedback on concept learning using computer-based instruction. In the first study, two groups of undergraduate students progressed through a set of five behavior management concepts presented in the rational set generator framework.…

Four recently developed computer programs can help students with the composition process. The first, a prewriting program, helps students prepare to write by asking them a series of questions, similar to those an instructor would ask, intended to help them think more deeply about their subject. The second writing program also contains prewriting…

A program, developed to train teachers to use the computer, is based on the belief that adults acquire computer literacy in the same way that children do: sequentially and with hands-on experience. Programming is taught first. Reliance is placed on peer teaching as well as teaching by a skilled instructor. The role of play is emphasized in…

Computer-naive university students (N=124) were taught the BASIC programing language by solving and receiving feedback on program comprehension problems stated in BASIC or on corresponding problems stated in English followed by problems stated in BASIC. Results support a sequential method of instruction beginning with use of natural language…

Reviews study of 80 undergraduate sociology students which compared the effects of two types of sequencing in computer assisted instruction: (1) linear, or fixed, and (2) flip, or branching. Results indicate that students in the flip sequence condition performed better on comprehension measures but not on retention measures. (Author/LRW)

For college students learning concepts, the advisement condition resulted in better performance than the learner control condition and needed less instructional time than the adaptive control condition. Results also indicated that students given concepts simultaneously performed better and needed less instruction than those who received concepts…

Presents the rationale behind a model for the use of the computer in the development of reading comprehension. Basic assumptions concerning reading are delineated. The model has three basic components: intake (text processing and text comprehension), personalization, and extension. (Author/SED)

Some theoretical considerations for increased use of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in legal education are compared with other teaching methods, empirical evidence of the method's effectiveness is discussed, and some of the activities involving CAI at Harvard Law School are outlined. (MSE)

This study of the feasibility of using existing videocassettes for interactive video included field tests with Open University summer school students. The aims of the study were to discover whether video material originally made for broadcast could be used in an interactive program which involves breaking up the intended flow of the program;…

Discusses cognitive apprenticeship, an educational practice that focuses on students actively engaged in activities with a variety of supports, or scaffolding. Presents a model of scaffolding that was implemented in courseware for learning computer graphics on the World Wide Web. An evaluation on the use of the courseware at Georgia Institute of…

Describes a study of undergraduates studying genetics that compared the effectiveness of a computer simulation used before and after formal instruction. Treatment of the experimental and control groups is explained, and results are reported which support the theory that the effectiveness of the simulation is dependent on the sequence of…

Student attitudes were investigated in an attempt to determine systematic attitudinal differences among various types of instructional control. Ninety-nine undergraduate students from a basic educational media course volunteered for this study. Six interactive video lessons--covering basic technical aspects of 35 millimeter photography--were…

Presents literature review of research studies that focused on students' learning processes and learner control of instruction. Highlights include computer-assisted instruction; information processing strategies; metacognitive skills; adaptive control; branching; sequence of instruction; feedback; learning strategies; locus of control; and…

The purpose of the research was to manipulate two aspects of genetics instruction in order to measure their effects on college, introductory biology students' achievement in genetics. One instructional sequence that was used dealt first with monohybrid autosomal inheritance patterns, then sex-linkage. The alternate sequence was the reverse.…