Changes in attitudes of learners when programed instruction is interpolated between two conventional instruction experiences.

5parallel forms of a 26-item Likert-type attitude scale were administered in counterbalanced order to 70 airmen studying radiation detection and 53 airmen studying camera repair. Both courses included several wk. of lecture, a programmed unit, and several more wk. of conventional instruction. Students' attitudes were significantly more favorable during the programed unit in both courses. Changes were considerably more pronounced for the 17 highest ability students. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparative study of conventional instruction and individual programed instruction in the college classroom.

The traditional college classroom teaching method of lecture and assigned readings was compared with an individual programed instructional method utilizing a programed text. 21 pairs of Ss, matched according to sex, age, intelligence test score, and hours of formal training in the biological sciences, were 1st tested upon completion of the physiological portion of an introductory psychology course. They were then retested 6 wk. later. No significant differences were found in performance on Test 1. However, the level of performance on Test 2 was significantly higher for the program-instructed group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparative study of programed and conventional instruction in industry.

"Programed textbooks containing 719 frames were prepared covering the introductory 15 hours of a 16-week course for trainees in a 7070 Data Processing System servicing course. Achievement test scores for six experimental classes (n = 70) who used these programed texts were compared with those of two control classes (n = 42) taught by the lecture-discussion method. Significant gains in achievement and reduction of training time were found for the experimental classes. Student reaction to programed instruction as measured by a questionnaire was found to be favorable." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4KC25H. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An industrywide study of programed instruction.

In November 1963, this Association completed a study of the effectiveness of a 1625-frame, self-instructional text on life insurance fundamentals, developed in cooperation with the American Institute for Research. The 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design involved: use of a review book, availability of confirmation for each response, and response mode. Over 1500 people in 7 companies in classroom and field settings participated as well as home office employees in an 8th company to study 4- and 16-week retention. The use of a comprehensive review program resulted in slightly and reliably greater achievement on both immediate testing and retention tests 4 and 16 weeks later. Trainees receiving confirmation of the accuracy of their responses were generally, and sometimes significantly, inferior in achievement to trainees not receiving confirmation. Trainees did not differ in achievement or attitude toward the program depending on writing, saying their answers, or choosing either of these response modes; those who said their answers took less time than the others. Pretest individual differences were not reduced by exposure to the programed texts. (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Typographical cuing in conventional and programed texts.

This study assessed the instructional effectiveness of simple and complex forms of typographical cuing in both conventional and programed texts. 118 pretested, 8th-grade students read an 8th-grade history lesson and were later retested. Analysis of gain scores revealed that: (a) simple typographical cuing distinguishing core from enrichment content enhances the ratio of important to unimportant content learned without affecting the total amount learned; (b) complex typographical cuing distinguishing 5 categories of lesson content fails to increase learning of either core or enrichment content; (c) the programed or quizzed text is more effective than the conventional text; (d) the effects of simple typographical cuing and programed quizzing appear independent and additive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Active responding in programed learning materials.

This study investigated the effects of requiring a constructed response in programed material versus reading the same material. The programed materials consisted of 4 sections of an IBM basic machine operation course. 23 intact classes at the IBM New York Education Center served as Ss. The principal findings were as follows: no significant differences in mean achievement between the 2 formats of programed instruction, some tendency for the brighter students to do better with the constructed response programs and the duller students to do better with reading only, large time savings when the constructed response was not required, and significant reduction in range of finishing times when the constructed response was not required. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing pre-service teachers' training in empirically-validated behavioral instruction practices.

Although many behaviorally-based instructional practices have been shown empirically to promote student achievement, it is unknown to what extent teachers receive adequate training in these methods. This study surveyed master's-level elementary, secondary, and special education students about their coursework and applied training in 25 behavioral instruction practices and principles (e.g., prompting, graphing progress, reinforcement). A total of 110 pre-service teachers participated, representing six different colleges and universities located in the Northeast. Respondents generally reported receiving very little training in behavioral instruction practices and received the least amount of training in academic assessment strategies and instructional programs (e.g., Curriculum-Based Assessment, Direct Instruction). Special education students reported significantly more training in academic assessment than elementary or secondary education students. Implications for school consultation practices, in-service teacher training, and students' academic progress are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching machines and programmed instruction: Areas of application.

One of the principal enterprises of publishers and equipment producers is the manufacture and sale of programs and teaching machines. Applications of these educational and training techniques are prevalent in education, special education, industry, and the military. Conflicting results have been obtained both within and among these areas. It is concluded that this lack of concordance is due both to the situation in which the technique is used and various programming technicalities. More control in future research concerning criterion tests, structuring of this situation, control groups, specification of objectives, motivational factors, and theoretical variables is recommended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Automated instruction.

"One of the major differences between the SDC teaching machine and others is the great flexibility that is achieved by using a small, digital computer as the control mechanism for the teaching." An example to illustrate its characteristics is presented. The "most important problem in the teaching machine area is not the design of the machine itself but rather the design of good instructional material. It is felt that not enough research has been done to demonstrate the way in which instructional materials should best be prepared; similarly, there has not been enough research to demonstrate the conditions under which this type of automated education can yield good results." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dependency responses to televised instruction.

This study compared anecdotal responses of 375 college freshmen exemplifying both effective and ineffective instruction in both televised and conventional classroom instruction. Thus, each S gave 4 anecdotes. When treated in the manner of the Flanagan critical incident technique by 4 independent judges, the anecdotes were classified into 2 broad categories: (a) those behaviors describing essentially active initiation by the learner with a focus on self were included in the self-dependent classification, (b) those critical phrases describing essentially passive participation by the learner and focused outside the self were included in the other-dependent classification. The Ss responses to effective conventional classroom instruction were significantly self-dependent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A study of computer-assisted instruction in industrial training.

To test the feasibility of remote computer-assisted instruction as an industrial training technique, 79 newly hired electronic technicians received their required training in basic data-processing principles through programed texts, the standard method used for this presentation. 25 equivalent students received the same training through a keyboard-operated terminal device linked remotely to an IBM 1440 computer system. No significant differences in examination scores were obtained; however, there was a significant saving (approximately 10%) in the time required to complete the course. On an attitude questionnaire administered subsequent to the courses, both groups rated their respective method of instruction as approximately equal to regular classroom techniques in terms of effectiveness and desirability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Computerized instruction and the learning process.

Discusses developments in the field of computer assisted instruction (CAI), focusing on the Stanford Project, initiated in 1964 under a grant from the Office of Education to develop and implement a CAI program in initial reading and mathematics. A progress report deals with the reading program with particular reference to the past school year, when for the first time a sizable group of students received a major portion of their daily reading instruction under computer control. The first year's operation must be considered essentially as an extended debugging of both the computer system and the curriculum materials. Nevertheless, some interesting comments can be made on the basis of this experience regarding both the feasibility of CAI and the impact of such instruction on the overall learning process. Parts of the project addressed include the CAI reading curriculum, problems in implementing the curriculum, and some results from the first year of operation with first grade students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Embedding reading comprehension training in content-area instruction.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of comprehension training embedded in a program that taught science content to 2nd graders. The program included instruction about the structure of compare-contrast expository text, emphasizing clue words, generic questions, graphic organizers, and the close analysis of well-structured text exemplars. This program was compared with a program that focused on the science content but included no compare-contrast training as well as with a no-instruction control. Regular classroom teachers (14 from 4 schools), randomly assigned to treatment, provided the instruction; 215 students (7-8 years old) participated. The study replicated acquisition and transfer effects found in an earlier study, that is, transfer to compare-contrast text with content related and unrelated to the instructional content (with no loss in the amount of science content acquired). The program also led to better performance on written and oral response measures and on 1 of the 2 measures involving authentic (less well-structured) compare-contrast text. These findings support and extend previous findings that explicit instruction in comprehension is effective as early as the primary-grade level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Computerized instruction and the learning process: Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by Richard C. Atkinson (American Psychologist, 1968[Apr]). The last sentence of the first column on page 231 should read as follows: (b) Items for which the correct answer is an adjective are more difficult to comprehend than items in which the correct answer is a noun or verb; similarly, verbs are more difficult than nouns. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 2005-10451-001). Discusses developments in the field of computer assisted instruction (CAI), focusing on the Stanford Project, initiated in 1964 under a grant from the Office of Education to develop and implement a CAI program in initial reading and mathematics. A progress report deals with the reading program with particular reference to the past school year, when for the first time a sizable group of students received a major portion of their daily reading instruction under computer control. The first year's operation must be considered essentially as an extended debugging of both the computer system and the curriculum materials. Nevertheless, some interesting comments can be made on the basis of this experience regarding both the feasibility of CAI and the impact of such instruction on the overall learning process. Parts of the project addressed include the CAI reading curriculum, problems in implementing the curriculum, and some results from the first year of operation with first grade students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Additional notes on the case method of instruction.

Asupplement to the report by Castore and Berrien (see 25:98) which tends to confirm their findings regarding students' feelings toward the case method of instruction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Programed instruction as a technique for improving spatial visualization.

A 505-item program, using selected concepts of geometry to help condition the classes of behaviors specified as components of visual-spatial functions, was administered to a group of 27 8th-grade pupils; a carefully matched control group, receiving only the pre- and posttests, continued with its regularly scheduled mathematical classwork presented in the conventional manner. Results indicated that Ss receiving the program scored significantly (p     

The role of closed-circuit television in university resident instruction.

"It is now obvious that we can link any number of classrooms together, put one or more TV receivers in each, and let one good professor lecture over the television system to multiple groups of students." Experiments "… or demonstrations could be performed and televised… ." Initial cost, installation and maintenance, operation, flexibility and pictures are discussed. "… TV exists as an aid to, and not a replacement for, the instructor… ." Faculties should "… begin now to coolly appraise TV for its strengths and its weaknesses, and to determine in what ways and under what conditions TV can make a contribution to resident university instruction." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preschool instruction and children's emergent literacy growth.

Preschoolers' (N = 156) classroom language and literacy experiences, defined across multiple dimensions, and their vocabulary and emergent literacy development were investigated. Videotaped classroom observations revealed substantial variability in amount and types of language and emergent literacy activities, across classrooms and for individual children within classrooms. Generally, more time in emergent code-focused activities was associated with preschoolers' alphabet and letter-word recognition growth, whereas more time in meaning-focused activities (e.g., book reading) was related to vocabulary growth. Only teacher- and teacher-child-managed activities were associated with alphabet and letter-word growth, whereas child-managed experiences, including play, were also associated with vocabulary growth. Overall, the effect size for student-level, code-focused instruction (small group) was about 10 times greater than was its classroom-level (whole-class) counterpart. There were Child × Instruction interactions, with the impact of different activities varying with preschoolers' incoming vocabulary and emergent literacy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of alphabet-letter instruction on young children's word recognition.

This study examined the influence of letter-name instruction on beginning word recognition. Thirty-three preschool children from low-socioeconomic-status families participated in 16 weeks of letter-name or comprehension-focused instruction. After instruction, children's ability to learn 3 types of word spellings was examined: words phonetically spelled with letters children had been taught (e.g., BL for ball), words phonetically spelled with letters children had not been taught, and words with visually distinct letter spellings that were nonphonetic. Children who received letter-name instruction learned words phonetically spelled with letters included in instruction significantly better than other words. Children receiving comprehension instruction performed significantly better on visually distinct word spellings. Results demonstrate the beneficial effects of alphabet-letter instruction on beginning phonetic word recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)