CHATPER – II REVIEW OF REALTED RESEARCH LITERATURE

The review of literature is the exploring phase of research. It

helps the researcher to investigate a specific field of his interest in

respect of researches that has been conducted in India as well as

abroad. It provides insight as well as direction in Indicating and

identifying the research problem in taking a sample in selecting

appropriate methodology and statistical techniques.

To quote John W. Best on review of literature "A summary of

the writings of recognised authorities and the previous research

provides evidence that the researcher is familiar with what is already

known and what is still unknown and untested. Since effective

researches are based on past knowledge, this step help to estimate the

duplication of what has been done and provides useful hypotheses and

helpful suggestions for citing studies and shows substantial agreement

and those that seem to present conflicting conclusions help to sharpen

and define understanding of existing knowledge in problem area,

provides a back ground for a research project.

Over the last few years many educators have become excited

about using computers to assist teachers in classroom interactions and

to broaden student's intellectual experiences. This excitement has not

only been felt by teachers and administrators, who have never touched

a computer but it has also been shared by curriculum developers,

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computer scientists and others, who have tried to apply the capabilities

of computers to educational purposes for many years. What is so

special in computers to have attracted educators for using it in a

classroom? What kind of problems can computers help solve? How

are computers different from paper, pencil or books as aids to problem

solving? If one goes in search of the answers to above queries, he

would find that computer system is an interactive medium like paper

and pencil. It can store material like books. Yet a third key feature of a

computer system is that it can automatically and rapidly follow a

detailed set of directions involving the input, storage, manipulation

and output of symbols. It is this capability of the computer that not

only puts it as a more powerful aid to problem solving than paper,

pencil or books, but makes it to be regarded as an aid to teachers in

imparting instructions. This use of computers to the process of

teaching and learning is termed as computer aided instructions (CAI).

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF EXPLORATIVE STUDIES IN

INSTRUCTIONAL USE OF COMPUTERS:

Use of computer aided instructions began almost

simultaneously and independently in the areas of computer; system

sciences, engineering and psychology. The first demonstration of CAI

was accomplished by Rath et. al. (1959)1 at the Thomas J. Watson

1 Rath, G.J., Anderson, N.S., & Brainard, R., (1959), The IBM research project

in automatic teaching : The role of the art. Wiley, New York.

69

Research Centre of IBM in New York. They developed the computer

assisted instruction program in binary arithmetic and the program was

good enough to generate its own the exercises, for the practice of the

students according to their need. Another project in the same direction

was initiated in Cambridge by Licklider (1962)2, who looked at the

variety of computer assisted instruction program including language

teaching, math drills, and construction of graphs, in response to

requests entered on a typewriter by students studying analytic

geometry. Yet another initial exploratory effort was taken up by

Coulson (1962)3 at system development corporation in California,

who used computer s to present pages of instructional material, in

order to collect a better research data on students reactions to

programmed instructions. The fourth effort in the sequel was initiated

by Bitzer et. al. (1962) at the coordinated science laboratory in the

University of Illinois. They gave particular attention to the design of

convenient learning setups, which could display text, photographs and

line drawings in computer assisted instructions. Bitzer et al., also paid

attention to the extension of the programming language to cover

specifically the instructional use of computers. The proceedings of

2 Licklider, J.C.R., (1979), "Impact of information technology on education in

science and Technology", in technology in science education : The next ten years : perspective and recommendation, National Science Foundation.

3 Coulson, J.E., (1992), A computer based laboratory for research in development in education. Programmed learning & CBI. Wiley, New York, First Publication (1962).

70

1961 conference on computer based education Coulson (1962)4

provides a detailed survey of the work done at that time on computer

aided instructions.

1960's marked significantly towards the development of

computer assisted instructions. The military services also became

interested in the use of computers in instructions. Each of the three

services in United States instituted research and development projects

to find applications for this new instructional tool in the task of

training the military personnel. The number of samples of CAI

materials had almost doubled by 1963, just 2 years after the

conference on computer based education (Coulsan et.al. 1962).

By the middle of 60's a number of universities directed their

researches towards the instructional use of microcomputers and

launched several development programs. Experimental curriculum

projects in reading and mathematics were initiated in 1963 by

psychologist and mathematicians at the Stanford University institute

for mathematical studies in social sciences Suppes (1966)5, Atkins

(1967). In 1964, a group of educational researchers in Pennsylvania

state university began working on the development of course material

4 Coulson, J.E., (1992), A computer based laboratory for research in

development in education. Programmed learning & CBI. Wiley, New York, First Publication (1962).

5 Suppes, P., (1966), The uses of computers in education, Science American, 215 (3).

71

for computer assisted instructions. Mitzel (1999)6 presented four

college level courses through computer assisted instruction packages

in teaching methods for modern maths, management accounting,

audiology and engineering economics. At the university of Michigan a

program was initiated late in 1964 by the centre for research on

learning and teaching for exploration of instructional use of

computers. Psychologists in the staff, with the help of subject experts,

contributed to the development of instructional materials in physics,

biology, social sciences, journalism, statistics and a number of

professional areas.

Florida State University Institute of Human Learning led to

the establishment of a Computer Assisted Instruction Centre which

started operations in 1965. Hansen (1966)7 alongwith other

educational psychologists developed CAI courses in introductory

college physics, applied statistics, computer languages, chemistry and

social work.

The University of Taxes also established a computer assisted

instruction laboratory in 1965 which gave special attention on learning

through CAI. Early curriculum developments by Holtzman et.al.

6 Mitzel, H.E., (1999), The development and presentation of four colleges

courses by computer teleprocessing, Final report. Computer assisted instruction.

7 Hansen, D., (1996), Computer assistance with educational process. Review of Educational Research, 36(5).

72

(1967) at the CAI laboratory of University of Texas included courses

on remedial math, and exercises in school administration.

The year 1965 emerged as a year of expansion in the field of

computer assisted instructions. In addition to the university

developments and military applications, commercial interests became

quite active in the area, making increasingly large capital investments.

Companies like IBM, Philco-Ford Technomics and Computer Systems

for education announced the preparation of special purpose computer

aided instruction systems. The use of their systems to teach computer

programming and mathematics spreaded rapidly in public and private

schools of Boston and New Hampshire. The year ended with three

significant conferences on computer based education, computer in

college Physics (CCP) (1965), Gerard (1967), Bushnell & Allen

(1967) to consider the problems and potentials of the young

technology in higher education.

By the end of 60's and in early 70's, the efforts to implement

computer assisted instructions began to receive national attention and

recognition in U.S.A. It marked with an invitational conference at the

University of Texas on Testing and Guidance part of computer

assisted instructions Holtzman (1970). The year had another round of

conference activity on topics "Computers in undergraduate and

secondary school curricula Berner (1971) and computers in science

teaching Blum (1971).

73

Mustafa (2010)8 metanalysed the various studies in computer

assisted instructions in science and mathematics carried in Turkey.

Johnson and Rubin (2011)9 reviewed various studies done

between 1995 and 2007 regarding the effectiveness of interactive

computer based instructions.

Recently the field of computer aided instructions has grown to a

very big size in different directions like curriculum development,

computer literacy, counseling, tutoring and testing etc. that it would

not be possible to cite all the researches and developments in the

present review. We therefore confine our attention to only on the

comparative studies for the two methods of teaching, the computer

assisted instructions and the traditional instructional method. The

further review has been taken up under the following headings:

(A) Researches on implementation of CAI in schools and the

attitude of staff and students towards computers.

(B) Comparative studies on learning through the two methods,

studies on the implementation of CAI on schools and on the

attitude of teacher and students for the two methods of teaching.

8 Mustafa (2010), Metanalysis of the computer assisted studies in science and

mathematics: A sample of Turkey. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 9, Issue 1.

9 Douglas, A. Johnson; Sophie Rubin (2011) Effectiveness of Interactive computer based instructions: A Review of Studies Published between 1995 and 2007. Journal of Organisational Behaviour Management, 1540-8604, Volume 31, Issue 1.

74

(C) Comparative studies on the effectiveness of two methods of

teaching.

(D) Researches on other factors affecting the instructional use of

microcomputers.

(E) Studies concluding against instructional use of microcomputers.

(A) RESEARCHES ON IMPLEMENTATION OF CAI IN

SCHOOLS AND THE ATTITUDE OF STAFF & STUDENTS

TOWARDS COMPUTERS

The advancement in educational technologies have always

paved a way for educational innovations. Cox et.al. (1988)10 observed

that in the early 1980's a microcomputer in a British Primary school

was the exception rather than the rule, but with the inception of

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) primary scheme in 1982, the

situation began to change rapidly and in few years most of the primary

schools had acquired at least one machine. The instructional use of

microcomputers in British primary school contradicted Schenk

(1985)11, for his version that educational innovations often took more

than 20 years to permeate through the system, as they swept into

nearly all primary schools in about as many months.

10 Cox, M., et.al., (1988), The use of computer assisted learning in primary

schools, some factors affecting the uptake. Computer Education, Vol. 12(1). 11 Schenk, C., (1985), Good practice? Times educational supplement, Ist March,

Vol. 37.

75

Learning through computers at the primary or secondary stage

of schooling, attitudes of students, teachers and head teacher and other

factors affecting its uptake etc. have been the issues before the

researchers in education since the very first day the idea was

conceived. Lundgren (1972)12 developed a frame model where one

could consider the different forces in a school which influenced the

success of the innovation. The model had been used by Bliss et. a1.

(1986)13 who investigated through it the use of computers in a

secondary school. Dynan (1984)14 also suggested a simple model

which identified five stages (inception, resources, adoption,

implementation and outcomes) in the process of innovations. Cicchelli

and Baccher (1985)15 suggested that merely using microcomputers in

the classroom was not sufficient for implementation, hardware cost

and the teacher time must also be valued for the successful

implementation of microcomputers in schools. Dynan (1984) observed

that in past, many innovations had failed to be effective because they

had never been adopted into traditional teaching styles.

12 Lundgreen, U.P., (1972), Frames factors and the teaching process. Almquist

& Wiksell, Stockholm. 13 Bliss, J., et.al., (1986), The introduction of computers into a school. Computer

Education. 10(1). 14 Dynan, M.B., (1984), Evaluation of implementation of curriculum

innovations. In Educational Evaluation for Program Improvement. Western Australian Institute of Technology.

15 Cicchelli, T. & Baechev, R., (1985), Introducing microcomputers into the classroom: a study of teachers concerns. Journal of Educational Computer Research, 1(1).

76

He thus pointed out the role of teacher to be central in any

process of change. On the basis of various interviews with the teachers

and their analysis Brown (1981)16 and Bliss et.al. (1986)17 contended

that negative attitudes of teacher could seriously constrain the extent

of computer use in schools. Weaver and Shuker (1986) took up a

research project on ten Inner London Education Authority (ILEA)

primary schools which aimed to demonstrate how microcomputers

could be used successfully in children primary topic work.

Cox et.al. (1988)18 gave their findings from an ongoing

research project, set up to investigate the activities and outcomes of

the ILEA primary projects on the use of microcomputers in primary

schools. The case study investigations were carried out in eight ILEA

Schools. Head teachers and teachers were interviewed and

observations were recorded for the children working with

microcomputers, wherever possible. Factors were isolated which

promoted or inhibited the uptake of computer assisted learning in

primary schools. Many teachers of infant children believed that

microcomputers were in appropriate for children of that age group.

16 Brown, C. (1981), The implementation of curriculum change by schools

curriculum in the 1980's, Aspects of education: 26, J. Inst. Edu. Univ., Hall, 22-38.

17 Bliss, J., et.al., (1986), The introduction of computers into a school. Computer Education. 10(1).

18 Cox, M., et.al., (1988), The use of computer assisted learning in primary schools, some factors affecting the uptake. Computer Education, Vol. 12(1).

77

Some teachers lacked the confidence to initiate microcomputer use in

their teaching without some initial training. The level of uptake was

higher in schools where the head teacher had the positive attitude to

the value of computer assisted learning in the primary curriculum. The

extent of use of microcomputers in schools was found to be affected

by many factors like level of resources, organization and management

of microcomputers, quality of software and teacher training.

Underwood (1985)19 established that computers could be used

in classrooms in liberating and creating ways to stimulate children's

intellectual capacities and not merely as a drill and practice machine.

Jean Underwood (1988)20 carried a survey study on teachers of

primary and secondary schools, who were competent computer users

but not necessarily programmers and who valued the computer in

classroom and wanted to use it effectively in their teaching. The study

was an evaluation of the investigations undertaken by the teachers and

pupils using a number of computer based information handling

packages in eighteen classrooms: and compared the expressed

objectives of teachers using data bases against recorded classroom

outcomes. The similarity between expressed intents and recorded

19 Underwood, J., (1985), cognitive demand and CAI. Teachers, Computers and

the classroom. Machester University Press. 20 Underwood, J. (1988), An investigation of teacher intents and classroom

outcomes the use of information handling packages. Computer Education 12, (1).

78

transitions and outcomes was analyzed using Spearman's Rank-

Difference correlation. Though no consistent relationship was found

between the expressed intents and the educational outcomes, yet the

results were quite encouraging. Teachers were aware of a wide range

of skills and knowledge which could be stimulated by data base use,

and although the recorded outcomes did not match intentions, the

causes of this disparity appeared to be the shift in focus of attention

from global issues during the planning phase to the pragmatics of

learning and classroom management, and the responses of individual

children during the action stage. Underwood conclusively advocated

the use of computer based information handling packages in schools to

be beneficial in the sense that powerful learning situations could occur

and children could begin to develop valued skills and knowledge.

These results and techniques were in conformity with Wood et. al.

(1987)21.

Several research studies were directed towards the

implementations of CAI packages at different levels of schooling, that

is, kindergarten, primary and secondary levels, particularly in respect

of observing the attitude of students towards this new media of

instruction, as against the traditional method of instructions. Piele

21 Underwood, G. & Underwood, J.D.M., (1987), The Computer in the

classroom: A force for change. Information Technology and People (Edited by Blackler F. and Oborne D.) Britishs Psychological Society, Leicester.

79

(1979)22 conducted his study on microcomputer instruction for VI

grade students of schools. His studies were mainly directed towards

the attitude of students for microcomputers. Piele found that the

students who were given instructions through microcomputer were

more enthusiastic than those for whom traditional teaching method

was used.

A similar study towards the attitudes of students was taken up

by Leonard (1989)23, who compared the reactions of students who had

received biology instructions by traditional method and by a videodisc

delivery system. Student responses to a questionnaire indicated that

students were more positive about the videodisc instruction, than the

traditional method. Videodisc students reported that their time was

spent more efficiently, they paid more attention to the instructions and

they understood the results of experiment better. After the instructions

were over Leonard observed that the treatment group students were

more confident than those belonging to the control group.

In another study of biology, Hounshell and Stanford (1989)24

22 Piele, Donald. T., (1979), "Micro computers go to school." Paper presented at

meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April.

23 Leonard, W., (1989), A comparison of students reaction biology instruction by interactive Video disc or conventional laboratory. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 26.

24 Hounshell, P.B. & Stanford, H.R. (1989), The micro computers & achievement and attitudes in High school biology, Journal of research in science teaching, 26, 543-49.

80

compared the effect of microcomputers on attitude and achievement.

One group of 76 high school students were enrolled in a biology

course that used a microcomputer to expand and supplement a

traditional biology course. Computer simulations were used 60% of

class time and 70-80% of laboratory time. The control group of 126

students received the same biology instruction without computer.

Attitude and achievement were assessed using a comprehensive test of

basic skills, a researcher developed instrument towards the science

course and a science attitude inventory. The authors concluded that the

students in the computer group did significantly better on the test of

basic skills and also had a more positive attitude towards the science

course than the students in traditional biology course. Savenye

(1989)25 also obtained similar results in his year long pilot study of

attitude and achievement on an interactive videodisc delivery system.

The conclusions on attitudes mentioned above have further been

confirmed in a recent study by Woodrow (1991)26 who discussed

computer attitudes as determinants of computer literacy of pupil

teachers.

Cox et.al. (1988) studied the use of computer assisted learning

25 Savenye, W.C. & strand E., (1989), Teaching science using interaction video

disc: Results of the pilot year evaluation of the Texas Learning Technology group project paper presented, Feb., 1-5, AM. ED 308838.

26 Woodrow, J., (1991), Laws of control and computer attitudes as determinants of the computer literacy of students teachers. Computer Education, Vol. 16(3).

81

in primary schools in respect to the factors affecting the uptake. They

observed that the adoption of microcomputers into the education

system necessitates the acceptance of a relatively new technology not

only by the school but by the individual teachers working in that

school. The failure to achieve change in teacher attitude and in teacher

behaviour is an important barrier to successful innovation for CAL.

Chomienne (1988) showed that while teachers may prove to

be receptive to the introduction and use of microcomputers in the

classroom, they end up in all sort of difficulties. Good Courseware is

scarce and technical problems are frequent. Teacher's workload and

the availability time for teachers to become familiar with software

resources are also important factors.

Chandra et.al. (1988)27 pointed out that while it is necessary to

understand the different viewpoints of teachers about CAL, it is also

important to consider the attitude of the head of institution because as

the decision and policy makers within the school they also effect the

implementation.

Khan (1989)28 on the basis of his research findings in respect

of the implementation and use of computers in Behrain's primary

27 Chandra, P. et al. (1988), Introducing computers into the school management

issues, computer education, 12, 57-61 28 Khan, E.H., (1989), The use of Computer-assisted learning in a primary

School. Computer Education, 13(4).

82

schools, contended that the successful use of computer assisted

learning requires a specific set of requirements to be fulfilled such as

change in the attitude of head teacher and class teachers, adjustment of

teaching methods, teacher training facility and redistribution of

workload, adequate hardware resources and availability of quality

software and courseware resources. He also suggested that the

introduction of CAL into school curriculum should be supplementary,

slow and gradual.

The staff of the Dallas Independent School District (DISD)

showed their interest in the attitude of the students towards

computerized instructions. Their research ("Computers storm the

classroom" 1981, pp 46-49) on general perspective repeatedly showed

that students found computers to (a) have infinite patience (b) never

get tired (c) never get frustrated or angry (d) never forget to correct or

praise and (e) to individualize learning.

Clement (1981)29 found that the students liked computers

because they (a) were self paced; (b) did not embarrass students who

made mistakes (c) gave immediate feedback and (d) ·left a general

feeling that students learned better through the computer system.

Students also felt that computers were more objective than teachers.

29 Clement, F.J. (1981), Affective considerations in computer based education.

Education technology, April, 28-32.

83

A group of DISD found that computers worked because (a)

computers were impartial to ethnicity (b) computers were great

motivators (c) computers were excellent for drill and practice (d) were

able to enhance spelling and (e) the teaching process was structured to

teach students in small increments. (Small computers get big results in

Dallas classroom, Computer 82, No.3, 1981, pp 54-55.

A variety of empirical studies on computerized instructions is

also found in the literature. Burns and Bozeman (1981) concluded that

no ultimate answer related to CAI effectiveness or guarantors of

success could be presented. They noted that CAI effectiveness could

be influenced by a host of variables, some of which were controllable

and others were not. Menis, Snyder and Ben Kohav (1980) studied

402, tenth grade students with low grades in the ninth grade. They

found that the better students did not on an average improve their

grades while the weaker students improved their grades. The use of

computer has a home drill aid influenced positively the self confidence

of the weaker pupil. Gershman & Sakamoto (1981) observed that the

'Computer Assisted Remediation and Evaluation' (CARE) project

demonstrated a positive effect on both student achievement and

student attitudes. They pointed out that all the teachers and 96% of the

students who were surveyed wanted to continue their use of CARE. In

a longitudinal study of student attitudes comprising 126 CAI and non

84

CAI users in both reading and mathematics Griswold (1981)30 found

that the CAI users showed more internal responsibility and a greater

sense of control over their learning. He also observed that female CAI

users were more positive than both male CAI users and non CAI

users.

A program using computerized instructions and involving

3800 students and 275 teachers was implemented in Lyons Township

Illinois. Lewis (1978)31 described it as a most beneficial experiment.

Hoffman & Waters (1982)32 on the basis of above experiment pointed

out that the success of CAI depended on personalities and also on

many other factors. Researchers like Burn, Bozeman and Clements

(1981) on the basis of their separate studies pointed out that CAI could

not significantly enhance the achievements of average level students

or the experienced users.

The effectiveness of computer assisted instructions to teach

reading strategies to university students was studied by Mikulecky

30 Griswold, P.A., (1981), Longitudinal patterns of students attitudes in a

computer assisted instruction curriculum (Rocky Mountain Educational Research Association) unpublished manuscript.

31 Lewis, C.L. (1978), A study of preschool children's use of computer programmes proceedings of the third national educational computing conference. Denton, Tx: North Texas state University.

32 Hoffman, J.L. & Waters, K., (1982), Some effect of student personality of success with Computer Assisted Instruction. Educational Technology, March, 20-21.

85

et.al.(1989)33. The authors concluded that the students in the treatment

group were better at identifying key concepts.

The computer aided modeling in science courses provides

opportunities to apply the general concepts to a variety of special

cases. The role of computer aided modeling in learning of physics was

discussed by Niedderer et. al. (1991)34. They showed that an iconic

model building software like STELLA could be used to help students

gain a deeper qualitative conceptual under standing and also facilitated

their orientation of physics instructions.

The computer assisted learning package combined with the

videodisc technology make a uniquely versatile interactive visual

medium that may prove to be a very powerful educational resource.

Ross (1991)35 through his review paper explored the teaching and

learning potential of interactive video with reference to science

courses and described some of the programs currently in use.

Barton & Rogers (1991)36 discussed microcomputers as an aid

to practical science, by studying a computer assisted instruction

33 Mikulecky, L., et. al., (1989), Teaching concept mapping and University level

study strategies using computers. Journal of Reading, 32 (8). 34 Niedderer, H. et. al., (1991), The role of Computer aided modelling in

learning Physics, Journal or Computer Assisted Learning. 35 Ross, S.M., (1991) Interactive videodiscs for science education, Journal of

Computer Assisted Learning, Vol.7. 36 Barton, R. & Rogers, L., (1991), The Computer as an aid to practical Science

studying motion with a computer. Journal of CAL, (7).

86

package in physics discussing motion. They discussed the use of two

types of physical sensors which enabled the microcomputer to be used

as a measuring instrument for practical experiments in motion, thereby

increasing the effectiveness of CAI package. Fox (1990)37 worked on

a microcomputer based approach for developing language reading

skills. He found this approach useful for training in second language

reading.

Adorn John et.al. (1998) studied the use of computer in

secondary schools. They observed that the adoption of computers into

the education system necessitates the acceptance of a relatively new

technology not only by the school but by the individual teachers

working in the school. The failure to achieve change in teacher

attitude and in teacher behaviour is an important barrier to successful

innovation for CAL.

Sharma et. al. (1999)38 studies of mathematics, compared the

effect of computers on attitude and achievement. One group of 100

secondary level students were enrolled in Mathematics course that

used a computer to expand and supplement a traditional Mathematics

course. Computer simulations were used 70% of class time and 75-

85% of laboratory time. The control group 100 students received the

37 Fox, J. (1990), A microcomputer based approaches to training in second

language reading skills, computer assisted language learning, 1, 29-40. 38 Sharma R.A. (1999), Distance Education, Loyal Book Depot, Meerut.

87

same Mathematics instruction without computer achievement.

Attitude and achievement were assessed using a comprehensive test of

basic skills, a researcher developed instrument towards the science

course and a science attitude inventory. The authors concluded that the

students in the computer group did significantly better on the test of

basic skills and also had a more positive attitude towards the science

course than the students in traditional Maths course.

Two recent studies Bayrak and Bayram (2010)39, Sengulec and

Azar (2011)40 are involved in figuring out the change in attitude of

students towards science and physics respectively when they are

taught through CAI. They conclude that there is a slight positive

attitude post exposure to CAI as the students are able to grasp abstract

facts easily.

(B) COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON LEARNING THROUGH

CAI & TRADITIONAL METHODS OF TEACHINGS

Elder (1973)41 observed through his studies that only few

researches had been done on learning through microcomputers, as

39 Beyza, Karadeniz Bayrak, Hale Bayram (2010) Effect of computer aided

teaching of acid base subject on the attitude towards science and technology class. Procedia Social and Behavioural Science, 2194-2196.

40 Ozlem Aydin Sengulec, Ali Azar (2011) Computer Assisted and Laboratory – Assisted Teaching Method in Physics Teaching: The effect on students physics achievement and attitude towards physics. Journal of Physics and Chemistry Education, Special Issue.

41 Elder, C.D., (1973), Problems in the structure and use of educational stimulation, Sociology of Education, 46, 335-354. New Publication (1999).

88

against the learning through traditional teaching methods. He on the

basis of his survey concluded that in most of such studies, whatever be

the number, a significant difference in learning could not be found,

however as regards to the attitude of students for microcomputers, a

definite improvement had been observed.

Scheepmaker and Zinn (1971)42 considered the contributions

of microcomputers to learning and teaching of different subjects at

different levels. They found a positive orientation of learning and

teaching through a microcomputer in all subjects at all levels. The two

researchers finally concluded that computer aided activities created

active learning situations for both students and teachers.

Encouraging results of research have been produced on the

impact of computer based methods on learning by Kulik, Kulik and

Cohen (1980)43, who had compared the computer assisted instruction

system with traditional method of instruction. They categorically stated

that the computer medium added measurably to the learning process as

against the traditional methods. These results were no doubt helpful in

indicating the usefulness of microcomputers as tool of learning in a

general way, however they did not reveal as to which computer related

42 Scheepmaker, B & Zinn, K.L., (1971), Proceeding of the IFIP world

conference on Computer Education, Amsterdam. 43 Kulik, J.A., et. al., (1980), Effectiveness of computer based college teaching.

A Meta-analysis of findings. Review of Educational Research 50(4).

89

variables, were responsible to enhance or impede learning.

Computer based learning environment was also studied by

Yasaki (1981)44. He used visual, pictorial and graphic media in his

studies and found that these media created a better learning

environment than the traditional blackboard use. Yasaki concluded that

computer terminal gave not only the advantage of active participation

of leaner but also added towards a learning environment because of the

available facilities of visual, pictorial and graphic media.

The idea of using software graphics was further explored by

Rieber (1989)45 who tried to observe the effect of the medium on

children's understanding for a physical concept of Newton's laws of

motion. Since the software graphics vary in levels of visual

elaboration, he selected three forms of such elaboration in his study

and concluded that the lower order objectives were easier to learn than

higher order objectives, regardless of the type of animation in

computer graphics. Reiber, Boyce and Assah (1989) replicated the

above study with a sample of adults. They observed no effect of

graphics in the learning of adults. He also pointed out that there was no

difference in the achievement for either type of graphics (stationary or

44 Yasaki, Edward, (1981) Kids love the D.P. Scene, Datamation. 45 Rieber, L.P., et. al., (1989), The effects of Computer animated lesson

presentation and cognitive practice on adult learning in Physical science. A.M. ED 308834, Feb., 1-5.

90

animated) in computer assisted instruction package.

Pea and Kurland (1984)46 also studied learning through

computers using LOGO. His findings categorically stated that a

computer could make such learning conditions for school children

which ultimately result in larger gains.

Turkle (1984)47 stated that learning meant, making sense of

experience and the information technologies were the tools, one used

to learn about the world. These were the devices that human used to

make public conceptions that were obtained from domain of

experience. According to Turkle, the electronic technologies like

computers not only influenced our social and technological

environment but also challenged the psychological environment.

Some basic principles of learning are obvious : instructional

methods should involve students actively in the learning process;

practice is a major element of learning; correct performances should

be reinforced; and student motivation is an important affective

component that effects the efficiency of cognitive learning. Brown

(1977)48 opined that knowing these principles of learning did not help

46 Pea, R.D. & Kurland, D.M., (1984), Logo Programming and the development

of planning skills. Tech. Report, New York. 47 Turkle, S., (1984), The second self computer and human spirit, New York. 48 Brown, John Seely, (1977), "Uses of artificial intelligence and advanced

computer technology in education", Computers and Communication, Robert J. Seidel and Martin Rubin, eds N.N. Academic Press.

91

a great deal in formulating computer programs that would improve

learning effectiveness over traditional methods, he rather enumerated

several practical problems that have to be addressed before fully

intelligent computer assisted instruction can be realized.

Grubb (1997)49, Merrill (1980)50 tested empirically an adaptive

CAI and a more learner control oriented CAI. They concluded that

learner control had not proved to be more effective at increasing

achievement than the more traditional CAI in which the computer

programs choose the sequence of tasks.

Since the conclusions of Grubb and Merrill are not

substantiated by the research that has compared various tutorial

models, one can still place an argument that learner control helps

students gain skills in learning how to approach new learning tasks.

Gagne suggested that the proportion of instruction that should be

under learner control is a function of age and grade level (quoted in

Hickey 1974).

Tennyson and Rothen (1979)51 have shown that when students

control the learning program they often terminate instructions too

49 Grubb, Ralph, E., (1997), Student control : exploration of CAI, Computers

and Communication, Robert J. Seidel and Martin Rubin, Academic Press. 50 Merill, M.D., (1980), Learner control in computer based learning. Computer

and Education. 51 Tennyson, R.D., & Rothen, W., (1979) Management of computer based

instruction Design of an adaptive control strategy. Journal of Computer based Instruction, Vol. 5.

92

early and thus fail to learn the proposed objectives. In contradiction to

above, Tennyson, Tennyson and Raman (1990) suggested that in any

learner control management strategies the student could be an

adequate judge for selecting the learning strategy and that would result

in effective learning. However, the instructional researches of David

(1995), Raman and Thomson (1998) and also the applied project of S.

Burt (1997) dealing with variables of learner control have failed to

demonstrate that students could make and carryout the decisions of

content selection and personal assessment. Hallid (1997) also had

similar views that poorest decision makers were students who knew

little about the learning task or who were performing poorly on it.

To account for such problems in CAI management systems

Tennyson and Rothen (1979)52 designed and tested Minnesota

Adaptive Instructional System (MAIS). Research of MAIS has

demonstrated the effectiveness of a program control management

system in selecting the appropriate amount and sequence of instruction

for individual students. Although these adaptive system may eliminate

the problem of premature termination of study, yet they neglect the

important educational goal of student responsibility in learning. Glaser

52 Tennyson, R.D., & Rothen, W., (1979) Management of computer based

instruction Design of an adaptive control strategy. Journal of Computer based Instruction, Vol. 5.

93

(1977)53 suggested that students in learner control mode who receive

meaningful information about their own learning development may

adopt reasonable learning strategies. Using this proposition, and in an

attempt to help students make and carry out appropriate content

selection and learning assessment Tennyson (1980) and Tennyson and

Buttrey (1980) combined a learner controlled mode of computer

assisted instruction system with the diagnostic and prescriptive

information generated from the MAIS. The results of their research

showed that a learner control condition could be a valuable CAI

management strategy, if students received sufficient information about

their learning development information that continuously showed

them what progress they were making toward mastery of the objective

and provided meaningful advice on appropriate stimuli necessary to

obtain that.

To continue development of a theoretical basis for students

self assessment in reference to learning specific objectives, Tennyson

(1981)54 proposed two research schemes: (i) to replicate and extend

the research of Tennyson (1980) and Tennyson and Buttrey

53 Glaser, R., (1977), Adaptive education: Individual diversity and learning.

New York : Holt, Rinehart, & Winston. 54 Tennyson, R.D., (1981), Use of Adaptive information for advisement in

learning concepts and rules using computer-assisted instruction. American Educational Research Journal, Winter, 18(4).

94

(1980)55 by testing directly the information procedure in reference to

both program and learner control CAI management strategies, and (2)

to test the learner control strategies over several, separate units of

instructions.

The data analysis of two proposed research experiments,

consisted a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with

univariate tests (ANOVAS) on each dependent variable, followed by

mean comparison tests (students Newman Keuls). Findings from the

two experiments of Tennyson (1981) showed that the students can

effectively manage their learning needs in a computer assisted

instructional system, which provided continuous, updated information

about their achievement (diagnosis) and instructional needs

(prescription) in relation to the objectives. In first experiment, high

school students receiving instruction (learning four concepts of

Physics) via a learner adaptive-control management strategy that

included advisement, performed better on the post-test than students in

a learner control "strategy (p>.001) and needed Iesws instructional

time than students in a program managed, adaptive-control strategy

(p>.001). Experiment 2 replicated the effectiveness of the learner-

adaptive control strategy by showing that students were able to make

55 Tennyson, R.D., & Butterey, T., (1980), Advisement and management

strategies as design variables in computer based instruction. Education Communications and Technology Journal, Vol. 26.

95

increasingly better self-assessment and management decisions during

three separate instructional units (learning nine punctuation rules) than

either a learner-partial-control-strategy (p>.001) or a learner-control-

strategy (p>.001).

The author finally concluded that computer assisted

instruction package could be a valuable instructional management

system, if students were given sufficient information and advise about

their learning development: information that continuously showed

than the progress they had made toward mastery of the objective and

provided meaningful advice on appropriate stimuli necessary to obtain

mastery. He also observed that students with low aptitude (or low

prior achievement) or low motivation (or low interest) required more

program management support than students with high aptitude and

motivation. Tennyson (1981) suggested need of a further research on

students ability to make individual assessment to identify means of

transferring such skill to learning situations in which advisement is not

provided.

Different learning theories, when combined with the

capabilities of microcomputer, produce ideal conditions for learners.

Vygotsky (1962, 1972)56 stated that learner must play an active part in

the learning process, if an effective educational system was desired.

56 Vygotsky, L.S., (1962), Though and language. M.I.T. Press, Cambridge,

Mass.

96

The empirical observations of Piaget (1981)57, Perry (1970)58 and

Fischer (1980)59 confirmed this belief. Owens (1981)60 on the basis of

expectancy theory contended that to produce intended educational

outcomes the individual student must possess (a) the necessary

abilities and traits, and (b) an accurate perception of the students role

to back up the effort.

The computer helps students achieve their educational and

career goals and satisfy their needs by requiring active learner

participation in the process of education. Self directed learning

activities developed by using computers are the integral part of the

adult education. Liao (1978)61 confirmed that the interactions with the

computer and resultant self directed learning lead to increased

achievement and higher test scores. The interactions with the computers

must be self directed. Students who use the computer must direct the

machine what to do by taking some action like forming an answer,

typing a word or letter or just striking any key on the key-board.

57 Piaget, J., (1981), The psychology of intelligence. Little field, Adams & Co.

Totowa, N.J. 58 Perry, W.G. (1970), Forms of intellectual and Ethical Development in the

college years : A scheme, Holt, Richart and Winston, New York. 59 Fisher, K.W., (1980), A theory of cognitive development : the control and

construction of hierarchies of skills, Psychological Review, 87. 60 Owens, R.G., (1981), Organizational behaviour in education, 2nd edn.

Prentice-Hall, Engle Wood Cliffs, N.J. 61 Liao, S.S., (1978), Learner directed instruction : additional evidences. The

Accounting Review 53 (January).

97

One of the significant capability of computers is in allowing

the student user various options about when to interact, when and how

long to learn a lesson etc. This important ability to direct when and

where of learning, encouraged the educators to use computer

instructions in different courses at college level. Thomson and Seda

(1995) set up a trial of computer assisted instruction at college level

accounting course. Alaah (1995) also carried out an experiment to

teach cost accounting through micro-computers. Petrello (1995)62

worked on the effectiveness of a computer assisted practice set in the

first year accounting course. Thomson (1995) also used the word

processors in accounting and business courses and observed that

scholars who used the word processing system once, never wanted to

be without them.

Collier et.al. (1987)63 through their work integrated the theory

and practice of adding microcomputers into an accounting curriculum.

They found that the use of microcomputers as a tool for accounting

education helped produce more knowledgeable accounting graduates.

They also observed that with the use of computers in instruction

accounting skill increased, students became comparatively better

62 Petrello, GJ. & Sedki, S.S., (1995), An analysis of the effectiveness of a

computer assisted practice set in the first year accounting course. Paper presented at NEAAA Syracuse, New York.

63 Collier, H.W., et.al., (1987), Microcomputer : A successful approach to teaching business courses. Computer Education, 11(2).

98

writers communicators and decision makers, improved in financial

statement preparations and analysis because they had an independent

experience of everything due to the self directing learning process in

the use microcomputers.

Two projects, one in late 1960's by the university of Illinois

and the other in early 1970's jointly by the Navy personnel Research

and Development Centre and Defence Advanced Research Project

were initiated respectively to prepare computer assisted instruction

lessons on macroeconomics college students and CAI study

management system for the same course. This lead Alessi et. al.

(1974)64 to developed and implement the computer assisted instruction

study management system on economics course for college students.

Anderson et. al. (1975) had then an experimental evaluation of these

CAI study management systems and found them to be useful and

effective in terms of learning of students. Paden and Barr (1981)65

carried out an empirical study on 400 students in two lecture sections

of principles of economics. The material on the computer consisted of

(i) a series of seven review and expository lessons (ii) three hour

multiple-choice type examination (iii) a record keeping system for

64 Alessi, S.M. et. al., (1974), Development and implementation of the

Computer Assisted Instruction study Management System (AISMS). Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, Technical Report.

65 Paden, D.W., & Barr, M.D., (1980), Computer Assisted Instruction in an elementary college economics course. Computer & Education, Vol.4.

99

tallying such information as the time spent by the students on the

system, numerical scores on the lesson, and scores and grades of the

three hour examination. The package was delivered by PLATO (the

University of Illinois version of computer assisted instruction). Their

findings showed a reasonably impressive evidence of the fact that

students in a controlled situation who depended upon the computer

assisted Instruction package for roughly one-seventh of the input in

the beginning course in economics, scored higher on the final

examination than those who did not use computer assisted

instructions.

Aremu and Sangodoyin (2010)66 recently explored the effect

on achievement of Nigerian senior secondary school students of

biology when they were taught through computer animations. They

were of the opinion that the bright colours and depictions of animation

facilitated learning hence aiding achievement.

(C) COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF

TWO METHODS OF INSTRUCTIONS

Systematic comparisons of outcomes of computer based and

conventional teaching began appearing in print in late 1960's or early

66 Ayotola Aremu, Abiodun Sangodoyin (2010), Computer animation and the

academic achievement of Nigerian senior secondary school students in Biology. Journal of the Research Center for Education Technology, Vol. 6, No.2.

100

1970's. Researchers divided a class of students into an experimental

and a control group. Members of the experimental group received part

of their instructions at computer terminals whereas the students in the

control group received their instructions by conventional teaching

methods. At the end of the experiment researchers compared

responses of the two groups on a common examination or on a course

evaluation form. Such studies were carried out many times in different

settings. Most of the reviewers have generally supported the

effectiveness of computer based teaching as a supplement to

conventional instructions in elementary schools.

Vinsonhaler and Bass (1972)67 summarized results from 10

independent studies of computer supported drill and practice involving

more than 30 separate experiments with about 10,000 subjects. They

concluded that CAI drill and practice at the elementary school was more

effective than traditional teaching in raising the standardized test scores.

Edwards et. al. (1975)68 also concluded that normal teaching

supplemented by computer assisted instructions was more effective

than the normal teaching alone. Jamison et al., (1974)69 also drew

67 Vinsonhaler, J.F. & Bass, R.K. (1972), Summary of ten major studies on CAI

drill and practice. Educational Technology, 12, p 29-32. 68 Edwards, J., et.al., (1975), How effective is CAI? A review of the research.

Educational Leadership, 33. 69 Jamison, D., et. al. (1974), The effectiveness of alternative instructional

media : A survey. Review of Educational Research, 44.

101

similar conclusions on the basis of their experiment for supplementing

conventional teaching by computer instructions at primary school

level. They concluded that at the elementary level, the computer

assisted instruction was apparently effective as a supplement to

regular instructions. Hartey's (1977) research synthesis showed that

CAI was one of the most effective ways of teaching mathematics at

the elementary and secondary levels. Murphy and Appel (1999)70;

Alderman (1978)71 reported the outcomes of a major evaluation study

of the two systems, that is CAI method and traditional method of

teaching carried out by a group of researchers at the Educational

Testing Service. The evaluation was based on field tests of the

TICCIT system in two community colleges in Arizona and Virginia

and test of the PLATO system five community colleges in Illinois.

The evaluators of PLATO reported that though both students and

teachers reacted favorably to the CAI system, yet it had no significant

effect on student achievement. The evaluators of TICCIT system had

the view that the system resulted in an improvement in student

achievement, but students in it were more likely to drop out than those

in conventionally taught classes. They finally concluded that none of

70 Murphy, R.T., & Appel, L.R., (1999), Evaluation of PLATO IV Computer

based education system in the Community College (ETS PR-10). Princeton, N.J. Educational Testing Service.

71 Alderman, D.L., (1978), Evaluation of the TICCIT Computer Assisted Instructional System in the Community College (ETSPR 78-10), Princeton, N.J. Educational Testing Service.

102

the two (PLATO & TICCIT) had reached the potential claimed for

computer based education.

Many systematic and well monitored research evaluations

have found that in the subject like mathematics were more drill and

practice is required, CAI could produce increased student achievement

in comparison to control group treatments. Ragosta et al. (1981)72

observed that CAI had a positive effect on computational mathematics

but the positive difference in conceptual understanding of

mathematics was sometimes greater and sometimes less than the

control group students. The language and reading results, although the

students in the middle elementary grades did show strong

improvement with CAI use. They concluded that the overall

superiority of the results for maths as compared to language learning

could be due either to the difference in the ability to computer based

drills to provide useful practice or due to the difference in the quality

of the particular CAI package used.

Melmed (1980) had also worked on similar type of problem,

using CAI package on microcomputer and had pointed out that

computer assisted instruction more clearly simulated practice of maths

than the practice of reading on language use.

72 Ragosta, Marjorie, Holland, et. al., (1981), CAI and compensatory education :

Final Report, Educational Testing Service.

103

Cacllenbach et.al. (1975) compared the effect of CAI to

traditional teaching method on cognitive and affective development

thought the use of experimental and control group. Lenger (1975/85)

found the instructional usefulness of microcomputers to assess the

teacher in drill and practice for the remedial teaching in subject. He

suggested that in the subjects like Physics and Chemistry, a teacher

could demonstrate experiment once in the class and then allowed

students to use simulation CAI to perform additional experiment.

Goodwin et.al. (1974/86) conducted an experimental study to

investigate the cognitive and effective effects of various types of

microcomputer uses on preschool children. They used three treatment

conditions viz. adult assisted microcomputer instruction, unassisted

microcomputer instruction and no computer instruction.

Goodwin et.al. used commercial CAI package and applied the

multivariate analysis for covariance for their data-analysis. They found

no significant difference in the treatment effects, however the attitude

data analysis revealed significantly greater interest in microcomputer

among the control group children. The educational advantages of

computer assisted instructions at higher levels of education, defined to

some extent, in having a similar summary to that of elementary or

secondary levels of education. Jamieson et.al. (1974) carried their

studies on computer assisted instructions at college level, in courses

operated as part of research and development projects and could draw a

104

conservative conclusion that computer assisted instruction was about as

effective as traditional instruction, when used as a replacement. They

finally concluded that at higher level of education most of the alternate

methods of instruction are equally effective.

Computers have been used to assist reading instructions by

Green et al. (1968)73 as early as in 1968. With every improvement in

the generations of computers their capabilities also increased.

Learning, recognizing and. pronouncing unknown words through the

computer assisted instruction package was perused by many

researchers like Atkinson (1984)74, Obertino (1974)75, Lysiak,

Wallace and Evans (1976)76, Mason & Blanchard (1979)77, Mason

(1980)78, Thompson (1980)79 and Marsh (1983)80. Alessi et.al.

73 Green, D.R., et. al., (1968) Learning to recognize words and letters on a CAI

terminal. Artington, VA: DRIC document Reproduction Service, No. ED 027197.

74 Atkinson, R.E. (1984) Teaching concepts and properties of parallelogram by a CAI program and a traditional classroom setting. Dessert. Abs. Int. 44, 7.

75 Obertino, P., (1974), PLATO Elementary Reading Curriculum. Urbana: Computer based Education Laboratory, University of Pllinois.

76 Lysiak, R., & Wallace, S., (1976), Computer-Assisted Instruction. Arlington, VA ERIC Documentation Reproduction Services, No. ED 495.

77 Mason, G.E., & Blanchard, J.S., (1979), Computer Application in Reading. New York, D.D. : International Reading Association.

78 Mason, G.E., (1980) Computerized Reading instruction : A Review Educational technology 20 (10).

79 Thompson, B.J., (1980), Computers in Reading: A Review of Applications and Implications. Educational Technology, 20(9).

80 Marsh, M., (1983) Computer-Assisted Instruction in Reading. Journal of Reading, 26.

105

(1982)81 studied the effectiveness of computer based reading

comprehension program for adults.

A systematic comparison of the relative effectiveness of

teaching unknown reading words by human tutor and that by a CAI

terminal was carried out by lcabone and Hannaford in 198682. They in

their empirical study with 32 fourth grade students used speech

synthesizer (a device which when coupled with microcomputers gives

the net effect of computer talking) in their CAI package to teach

unknown reading words to students. Students were given another

intervention by a human tutor. They concluded the microcomputer

with speech synthesizer equally as effective as a human tutor in

eliciting both the recognition of previously unknown words and in the

later recall of these words.

Further reading is also a basic skill needed to succeed in all

school subjects. The handicapped student's major area of weakness is

often in reading. Studies of Herjanic and Penick (1972)83 and Black

81 Alessi, S.M. et.al. (1982), Effectiveness of a Computer based reading

Comprehension Program for Adults. Journal of Educational Technology System, 11.

82 Icabone, D.G. & Hannaford, A.E., (1986). A comparison of two method of teaching Unknown Reading Words to fourth-graders: Microcomputer and tutor. Educational Technology.

83 Herjanic, B.M.. and Penick, E.G., (1972), Adult outcome of Disabled Readers. Journal of Special Education, 64.

106

(1974)84 reveal the problems that the handicapped students experience

in reading during school years lead to even greater problems once they

leave school. These problems have caused the handicapped adult to

lack self esteem, experience depression and often to face limited job

opportunities. This lead the special educators to study the performance

of CAI package for reading instructions to handicapped children.

Edwards et.al. (1975)85 and Goldenberg (1979)86 suggested that

computer assisted instructions appeared to be more effective with low

ability students than with the high ability students. Hasselbring

(1982)87 reported positive results using CAI to teach spellings to

learning disabled students. Ragosta (1983)88 and Appell and Hurley

(1984)89 also concluded positively in favour of computer assisted

instructions for handicapped students.

84 Black, W.F., (1974), Self concept as Related to achievement and Age in

Learning Disabled Children. Child Development, 45. 85 Edwards, J., et.al., (1975), How effective is CAI? A review of the research.

Educational Leadership, 33. 86 Goldenberg, E.P., (1979), Special Technology for special children. Baltimore:

Park Press. 87 Hasselbring, T.S., (1982), Remediating spelling problems of learning

Handicapped Students Through the use of Microcomputers. Educational Technology, 22(4).

88 Rasgosta, M., (1983), Computer-Assisted Instruction and Compensatory Education : A Longitudinal Analysis. Machine Medicated Learning 1 (1).

89 Appell, E.S. & Hurley, K.M., (1984), Individualizing instruction with computer software. Focus on Exceptional Children, 16(5).

107

Harper and Ewing (1986)90 gave an empirical rational for the

use of microcomputers rather than more traditional forms of

instruction for the high incidence handicapped students. They

compared the effectiveness of microcomputer and workbook

instructions on silent reading comprehension performance of high

incidence handicapped students. The effectiveness was measured by

percentage of correct responses to reading comprehension questions

(productivity) and observing the attention to task behaviour. The

authors concluded CAI as the most effective treatment in terms of

productivity while no distinct difference in visual analysis of task

behaviour.

Computer assisted learning (CAL) had been a part of the

curriculum in the tertiary sector of Education in U.K. for 'many years

(Hartley 1978)91. Most programs were either simulations of processes

or models or complex analytical packages. Nearly all required main

frame computers and the large majority had been written by skilled

professional computer personals, who paid little heed to educational

necessities. Hence most of the programs lacked user friendliness,

though they performed their tasks fast and reliably. Ayscough

90 Harper, J.A. and Ewing, N.J., (1986), A comparison of the effectiveness of

Microcomputer and workbook instruction on Reading Comprehension Performance of High intelligence Handicapped Children. Educational Technology.

91 Hartley, S., (1978), Meta-analysis of the effects of individually paced instruction in Mathematics. Dissertation Abstracts International, 38(7-A).

108

(1981)92, Butcher and Ayscough (1983)93 developed the authoring

language STAF-2 (Science Teacher's Authoring Facility Version 2)

that provided an easily understandable simple compressed syntax and

which could be used to rapidly produce an instructional program

without the necessity to understand much about programming at all.

Though the STAF -2 programs were in use for quite some

time in Leeds University and Open University London but not much

attention was paid to their educational value in relation to student

performance. Whiting (1982, 1984, 1985)94 through his different

studies, tried to have a cognitive assessment of these instructional

programs in STAF-2 in terms of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational

Objective (1956) in conjunction with mastery learning strategies of

Bloom (1968) and Block (1980). Whiting in his studies in 1985

examined the effects of replacing human tuition by STAF-2 tutorial

programs for under-graduate biology course and compared the two

forms of teaching in cognitive terms. Two groups of students were

used, one taught by the human teacher and the other by the computer.

A similar topic was taught to both groups of students by the usual

92 Ayscough, P.B., (1981), STAF Author guide. CALCHEM. University of

leads and Imperial College Computer Centre, London. 93 Butcher, P.G. & Ayscough, P.B. (1983), STAF2 Reference manual VAXCAL

CHEM, University of Leeds. 94 Whiting, J. (1982, 1984, 1985), The use of a computer tutorial as a

replacement for human tution in a mastery learning strategy. Computer education, 9 (2), 101-109.

109

means of teaching, in order to act as a control. The students taught by

computer attained significantly higher scores for retention of

knowledge, its application and evaluation when compared with those

taught by a human teacher. Whilst there was no significant difference

between the groups in terms of comprehension, analysis and synthesis.

Out of several studies concerning the use of computers with

young children, many have been exploratory and thus their results are

merely tentative. Many researchers like Caudle (1965)95, Green et.al.

(1968), Banet (1979), Lewis (1981), Piestrup (1981)96, Swigger and

Campbell (1981)97, Spencer and Baskin (1983)98 and Casey (1984)99

had evaluative studies to examine the effects of computer assisted

instruction and determined its usefulness for teaching young children.

Most of the above mentioned studies were on the area of reading

readiness and instructions.

Hungate (1982)100 conducted his research study for the

95 Caudle, F.M. (1965), Pre-reading skills through the talking typewriter. The

instructor October, 38-39. 96 Piestrup, A.M., (1981), Preschool children use Apple II to test reading skills

programs. Portola Valley, CA : Advanced Learning Technology Erice No. Ed 202-476.

97 Swigger, K.M., & Compbell, J., (1981), The computer goes to nursery school Educational Computer Magazine.

98 Spencer, M, & Baskin, L., (1983), Micro computers in early childhood education. Urbana, ILERIC D.R.S. ED 227 967.

99 Casey, J.M. (1984) Beginning reading instruction: Using the LEA approach with and without microcomputer intervention ERIC DRS NO. ED 2455192.

100 Hungate (1982) Computer in Kindergarden. The computing teacher, 9 (5), 15-18.

110

effectiveness of computer assisted instruction in teaching the

beginning concepts of mathematics to very young children. Six

prewritten programs were used that focused on basic mathematics,

visual discrimination, and name & telephone number practice.

Subjects worked with the computers 15-35 minutes once a week

during 8 month period. Hungate found that the proportion of the

correct responses for the computer group was equal to or higher than,

children who had not used the computer. She reported that the

learning effects appeared to exist over a considerable time and that the

computer enhanced the development of kindergarten children's basic

mathematical concepts.

Vonstein (1982)101 compared a conventional method of

instruction with computer assisted instruction in a study designed to

determine "whether the microcomputers facilitate indirect learning as

effectively as a more traditional method. She used an investigator

developed program and a microcomputer with a device that allowed

the computer to give oral instruction. 32 kindergarten subjects in the

experimental group were encouraged to manipulate small wooden

blocks, while working at the computer. Same number of the subjects

in the control group were taught the same concepts of counting and

101 Vonstein, J.F., (1982), An evaluation of the Micro computer as a facilitator of

indirect learning for kindergarten child. Dissertation Abstracts International. 43.

111

patterning shapes through the traditional style of chalk and

blackboard. Criterion- reference tests of counting and pattern shapes

were used for both pre-and post tests. Analysis of covariance revealed

no significant difference between scores of children in the control and

experimental groups. She noted, however, that there was a 'ceiling

effect' on the shape counting test that had affected the outcome of

results. Von Stein finally concluded that the microcomputer was as

beneficial a tool for small-group instructions as a more conventional

method.

Davis (1998) pursued similar study to test for difference in the

effects of computer assisted instruction and teacher assisted

instruction on numeral recognition and cardinal counting scores of

preschool children. In designing her study Davis tried to remove the

shortcomings of previous studies such as 'small sample size' and

'ceiling effect' on concepts presented. 52 pre-school children of 3 to 5

years of age from middle socioeconomic background were her

subjects. Children were taught either the number 1-10 or 11-20

according to their pretest scores. Analysis of variance, with blocking

on pretest scores, failed to detect a significant difference between the

computer assisted and teacher assisted treatments for either numeral

recognition or cardinal counting. Davis reported, however, that

children's scores improved after they used the computer and that the

computer was one effective method of facilitating beginning

112

arithmetic concepts.

MacMillon et.al. (1998, 99) made attempt to continue with

Pine's studies with 53 subjects in an effort to determine if Pine's

findings would replicate using kindergaten children. They started with

the null hypothesis that there would be no significant difference in the

numeral recognition or cardinal counting scores of children who

received computer assisted instruction when compared to those who

received teacher assisted instruction. Their two factored ANOVA

utilizing a 2x3 (treatment x levels) factorial design indicated a

significant difference in favour of computer assisted instruction for

numeral recognition and no difference were found between treatments

for cardinal counting. Results of MacMillon et.al. reaffirmed the

findings of Hungate, Von Stein and Pine what computer could be an

effective method for teaching selected beginning mathematics

concepts and skills. MacMillon et.al. concluded that for children

having a good understanding of the concept of numeral recognition,

CAI would be superior to the traditional method, however, for the

other category teacher assisted instructions appeared to be more

appropriate. These results tend to support Johnson's (1985)102

conclusion that microcomputer might not be equally beneficial to all

children.

102 Johnson, J.E., (1985), Characteristics of preschools interested in

microcomputers. Journal of Educational Research, 78, 299-305.

113

Mohmmad Imran Ahmad (2010)103 have brought out the

effectiveness of innovation methods of teaching over traditional

method of teaching at junior college level in biology teaching.

(D) RESEARCHES ON OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING THE

INSTRUCTIONAL USE OF COMPUTERS

Kulik, Kulik and Cohen (1980) conducted their study to observe

the relationship between the use of computer instruction and

achievement for students of basic level and also for those who became

more mature and skilled. Their findings suggested that the computer

use could enhance achievement at the basic level but the computer

influence diminished when students became more skilled. Dryfus and

Dreyfus (1984)104 working on a similar problem confirmed the

conclusion of Kulik et al. (1980).

Macken, Suppes and Zanotti (1980)105 pointed out that the

effectiveness of any educational projects, in general, and computer

assisted instructions in particular had been done on the basis of

classical statistical theories such as analysis of variance and

103 Mohmmad Imran Ahmad (2010) Effectiveness of Innovative and traditional

methods of teaching biology in Junior college Shodh Samiksha aur Mulyankan, Vol.II, 18.

104 Dreyfus, H.L. & Dreyfus, S.E., (1984), Putting computers in their proper place: Analysis Vs intuition in the classroom. Teachers College Record, 85.

105 Macken. E., Suppes, P., & Zanotti, M., (1980), Considerations evaluating individualized instruction. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 14(1).

114

regression, which were global in nature in the sense that they

described behaviour of a group but not that of an individual member.

Suppes, Fletcher and Zanotti (1976)106 demonstrated the use of micro-

theory developed by them to describe student performance in highly

individualized CAI package. Many researchers like Suppes et al.

(1976, 1978); Macken and Poulson (1978), Malone et.al (1979) and

Macken et. al. (1980) then applied this theory on hundreds of students

in U.S. with computer assisted instructions and found it to have an

accurate representation of performance with the outcoming suggestion

that CAI could be very useful in individualized instructions.

Morgan (1978)107 pointed out that a common problem to

individualized instruction was the heavy reliance on programmed

instruction which became boring to students. Computer based

programs which became boring to students. Computer based prorams

were of interactive nature and their flexible and visually appealing

display formats made them a more enjoyable experience particularly

in case of individualized instructions.

106 Suppes, P., Fletcher, J.D. & Zanotti, M., (1976), Models of individual

trajectories in computer assisted instruction for deaf students. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 67.

107 Morgan, Robert., (1978), Educational technology adolescence to adulthood, Educational Communication and Technology Journal, Vol. 26.

115

Stammer and Morrison (1985)108 made a detailed examination

of different modes of computer based learning as a part of their project

investigating the provisions of training for future command and

control systems. The discussions were restricted to the variety of

learner instruction interactions that would take place in fairly

individualized manner, with opportunities of practice in both the

knowledge and skill area. Stammer and Morrison observed that the

computer terminal offered a great deal of flexibility for information

presentation and forms of practice. The flexibility of being able to

present written material, graphics material or even dynamic

representations of various aspects of the tasks made computers

important, in the sense that it had some part to play, whatever to the

complexity of learning material. Stammer (1985)109 suggested

computer to a good natural media for individualized instruction.

Some effects of students personality on the success with the

computer assisted instructions were studied by Duby and Giltrow

(1978), and Cafarella et al. (1980). Their studies indicated that

personality of the student effected CAI effectiveness. They also

examined factors that effected student learning and rates of

108 Stammers, R.B. & Morrisore, G.C. (1985), Operator training in future

command systems: final Report, division of Applied Psychology. Aston University Birmingham.

109 Stammers, R.B., (1985), The effects of self-monitoring in training situations, Programmed Learning and Educational Technology 22.

116

withdrawal from self paced instructions. The withdrawal variable

(attrition rate) was not highly related to the particular technical

delivery mode of the course. It was related to certain student

characteristic (demographic or motivational) which student brought to

their learning situations. Retzke (1976)110 found that students with

lower level of dependence proneness showed lower motivational level

and greater gain in motivational level as a result of participating in the

experimental group.

Hoffman and Waters (1982)111, in their study, examined more

specifically the motivational aspect of the personality of the student.

The purpose of his study was to see, if any, relationship existed among

personality types and student performances in a self-pace computer

assisted instruction program. They posed two pertinent research

questions:

(a) Did certain personality types complete the CAI learning task earlier?

(b) Was there any relationship between personality types and

attrition (drop out) rate from the computer assisted instruction

package?

110 Retzke, R., (1976), The effect of experimental treatment using cognitive

styles on motivation of students. Marguette University, Dissertation Abstract International.

111 Hoffman, J.L. & Waters, K., (1982), Some effect of student personality of success with Computer Assisted Instruction. Educational Technology, March, 20-21.

117

The conclusions of Hoffman Kand Waters (1982) favoured the

students who had sensing type personality, that is, who had the ability

to concentrate, were able to pay attention to details, had affinity for

memorizing the facts and could stay with single task till completion.

In regards to the second question they found that those with Extrovert,

Intuitive and Perceiving (ENP) personality types were likely to drop

out.

Pritchard's (1982) observations regarding the instructional use

of computers were similar to Hoffman and Water (1982) and called

for an specific learning style that included: (i) manual dexterity at the

key board; (ii) attention to detail and accuracy; (iii) an aptitude for

learning visibly; (iv) a preference for working along and

independently; and (v) strong intuitive and diagnostic ability.

Winkle and Matthews (1982)112 noted that women's

socialization made them less receptive towards computers. Griswold

(1981)113 in his study noted increased achievement using computer

assisted instruction among boys at the elementary and secondary level

of schooling.

Few studies have also been conducted on retention of

112 Winkle, L.M. & Mathew, W.M., (1981), Computers storm the classroom.

Computer, Nov. 29. 113 Griswold, P.A., (1981), Longitudinal patterns of students attitudes in a

computer assisted instruction curriculum (Rocky Mountain Educational Research Association) unpublished manuscript.

118

achievement gains. The relationship of achievement retention with

methods of teaching was first proposed in proceeding of International

Congress of Psychology in the year 1955. The achievement retention

with computer based teaching attracted Evans (1982) to conduct his

studies in this direction. He compared the retention rates for learners'

who used computer assisted instruction with the traditional method of

teaching and workbook based method. He noticed that the retention

curve of computer teaching resembled with that of traditional teaching

method upto first 24-36 hours and deviated after that.

Kulik, Kulik and Cohen (1980) also examined as to whether the

computer based instructions resulted in greater retention than methods

of teaching. They obtained varied results with equal or greater

retention levels and their studies needed some more work in the area

to confirm their findings.

The effect of delayed information feedback under conditions to

maximize the retention, has been the subject matter of various

researchers like Kulhari and Anderson (1972)114 and Surber and

Anderson (1975) for their research studies. They utilized a variety of

material and wide range of information feedback delays, varying

between 8 seconds to 4 days, to finally established the superiority of

retention following delayed information feedback.

114 Kulhari, R.W., & Anderson. R.C. (1972), Dealy-retention effect with multiple

choice tests. Journal of Educational Psychology 63.

119

Retention of learned material with feedback devices was also

studied by Gaynor (1981)115. She found that immediate feedback

facilitated students working at knowledge level and that end of session

feedback facilitated learning at comprehension and application level.

Bordwell (1981)116 also found that immediate facilitated short term

retention.

The potential capacity of computers to provide feedback at any

chosen interval of time, attracted Rankin and Trepper (1987) to study

retention and delay in feedback in a computer assisted instruction task.

They presented instructions though computers in sex knowledge to 30

college students under varying conditions of informational feedback

delay. Immediate feedback following each response was compared

with feed back following a 15 seconds delay for each response and

feedback following a completed series of trials. Their dependent

variable was a 24 hours retention test. Their results also confirmed

earlier findings in this regard indicating improved retention as

function of delaying informational feedback. Rankin and Trepper

(1987)117, on the basis of their work finally suggested the use of

115 Gaynor, P., (1981), The effect of feedback delay on retention of computer

based maths., Journal of C.B.I., 8. 116 Bordwell, R., (1981), Feedback: How does if function? The Journal of

experimental Education. 117 Ranking, R.J. & Trepper, T., (1987), Retention and delay of feedback in a

computer assisted instructional task. Journal of Experimental Education, 56, (1).

120

interactive computer assisted instruction package for improved

retention of the learned material.

It is well known that the computer-assisted instructions are

infinite patient and provide students with the opportunity of repeated

trails with explanatory feedback. Myers (1989)118 examined this aspect

of CAI on achievement retention and attitudes of less successful

science students. 184 students were randomly assigned to one of the

four treatment groups for intervention. All computer assisted

instruction programs were tutorial in nature and the content was from

the life sciences. All treatments received positive feedback for correct

results, however for incorrect responses the treatment varied in

feedback. Group I received no additional feedback, group 2 received

feedback that allowed them try again if their original answer were

incorrect, group 3 received feedback that explained why the answer

was correct or incorrect, group 4 received both, the feedback that

allowed them to try again and explanation concerning their answers.

Students were given an attitude and content pretest, a content post-test

and a delayed post test for content to measure the retention. Multiple

analysis of variance was performed for achievement, retention and

attitude by group, sex and ability level. The authors concluded that

118 Myers, B.J., (1989), The effect of trial repetition and explanatory feed back in

CAI on science and Computer attitudes and performance of less successful students in Secondary science. Dissertation abstracts International, Vol. 50.

121

trial repetition and explanatory feedback did not have a significant

effect in either increasing the retention or facilitating achievement or

positive attitude towards science and computers among the sample of

less able students.

Billingham et.al. studied the effect of variation in feedback

assistance to 30 fifth grade students using three types of computer

based reading assistance program when reading a computer presented

science text. The first kind of assistance consisted of prompt telling

students to reread important parts of the text, the second kind of

assistance consisted of prompt and a list of forms of available help

such as definitions or background information. The third kind of

assistance consisted of a prompt and a prescription of the kind of

assistance the students needed. The assessment was a synthesis

question presented to students before they read 150 words text and

which they were to answer after reading the text. The authors

concluded that the prescribed assistance was more effective in

promoting understanding, than the other two forms of assistance. The

result actually predicted whether or not students used definitions and

background informations provided for assistance. They believed that

providing assistance did not guarantee that it would be used.

Intellectually giftedness can be considered as a factor positively

related to learning and planning skills because in terms of Renzulli's

122

(1978)119 definition it can be conceptualized as an interaction between

human traits of above average abilities, high levels of task

commitment and high levels of creativity. The investigation of

cognitive process underlying difference in computer competency

between intellectually gifted and non-gifted students were done by

many researchers. Grover (1989)120 discussed the general planning

skills needed for computer among intellectually gifted and non-gifted

students. Kirby (1984)121 observed that if planning and strategies are

taught to students, some increase in achievement would certainly

follow. White (1984)122 pointed out that computer simulations could

greatly enhance, the level of understanding of complex concepts, if the

learner had appropriate framework and strategies for dealing with

computer input, inorder to benefit.

Grover (1989) carried out an experiment of planning skill

examined whether a task specific measure of planning skill could

predict performance on computer simulation tasks and whether such

planning measures could differentiate between intellectually gifted

119 Renzulli, J.S., (1978), What makes giftedness? Reexamining a definition. Phi

Delta Kappan, 60 (3). 120 Grover, S.C., (1989), General planning skills as a predictor of individual

differences in Computer competency among intellectually gifted children. Journal of Educational Research.

121 Kirby, J.R., (1984), Cognitive strategies and educational performance. New York : Academic Press.

122 White B.Y., (1984), Designing Computer games to help physics students understand Newton's law of motion. Cognition and instruction, 1(1).

123

and intellectually average children's performance on computers. She

performed her experiment with 43 students (24 boys, 19 girls)

distributed in two groups of 29 and 14 as intellectually gifted or

average intelligent group. The groups were distributed on the basis of

standardized intelligence and achievement tests as well as teacher

rating. Grover (1989) reported that problems involving minimal

planning skills were mastered by a vast majority from both the groups,

however, the giftedness facilitated good problem solving. Similar

conclusions were also drawn by Brooks (1990) who used application

software with gifted students.

Cheney (1990) reviewed the uses of computer technology for

students with behaviour disorder. The three major uses pointed out by

them were (i) to enhance academic skills or achievement; (ii) to

modify the behaviour as reinforce; (iii) to improve social skills and

interpersonal deficits. They opined that additional research was

needed in a order to understand more clearly the power and limitations

of the computers. Leigh (1990)123 found computer assisted instructions

to be quite useful in special education.

The tutor, tool and tutee mode of computer assisted instructions

were critically examined by. Adams (1988)124 in their major study to

123 Leigh, H., (1990), Computer in special education : Some curriculum

consideration Australian Journal of Remedial Education, 22 (1-2). 124 Adams, T., (1988), Computers in learning: A Coat of many Colors, Computer

Education, 12, (1).

124

discuss difference ways in which computers can be used in

classrooms.

Plomp et al. (1990)125 conducted case studies in three leading

secondary schools in Netherland, who were using computers to

validate the claims available in literature about the accomplishments

in actual teaching practice when computers were used for instruction.

They pointed out that those schools had hardly passed the stage of

grassroots developments. A telephonic survey study by Plomp et. al.

(1990), with a larger group of leading schools also confirmed the

outcomes of the case studies.

Unfortunately the researcher could not find any empirical study

on the usefulness of instructional use of microcomputers, carried out

in India. However various ways like testing and error analysis, drill

and practice approach, dialogue approach, individualized help etc. in

which CAI may be useful, have been discussed by Atre and Barde

(1987)126 in their paper "Modernizing Education: The Computer Way"

presented at the 13th Annual Conference of Maharashtra State

Secondary Teacher Educator's Association 1985, held at Sholapur.

They suggested the modernization of education in developing

125 Plomp, T., Pelgrum, W.J., & Steerneman, AH., (1990), Influence of computer

use on schools, curriculum limited integration. Computer Education, Vol. 14, (2).

126 Atre, P.S. & Barde, N.R., (1987), Modernizing Education : The Computer way. Journal of Indian Education, (1).

125

countries like India, so that our younger generation could be equipped

to cope with the further challenges and the accelerating pace of

changes.

(E) STUDIES CONCLUDING AGAINST INSTRUCTIONAL

USE OF COMPUTERS

Licklider (1979)127 suggested that efforts should be directed

toward long range developmental studies on using computers to foster

discovery and the ability to organize ideas, rather than trying to use

present equipment for the more mundane applications like computer

managed instructions, drill and practice and question and answer

tutorials.

Ellis (1974)128 observed that computer assisted instructions

could be effective if the CAI packages incorporated into their

procedures the sequence of material, response contingent alternatives,

user controlled options and feedback mechanisms that promoted

learning for the greatest number of students. Yet as Ellis pointed out,

"even the best teacher does not know completely what it is that makes

him a good teacher, our ability to create computerized interactive

procedural environments is limited by what little knowledge we have

127 Licklider, J.C.R., (1979), "Impact of information technology on education in

science and Technology", in technology in science education : The next ten years : perspective and recommendation, National Science Foundation.

128 Ellis Allan, B., (1974), The use and misuse of computers in education. N.Y. McGraw Hill Book Co.

126

about optimizing instruction."

Brown (1977)129 felt that knowledge of principles of learning

only, did not help a great deal in formulating and developing a

computer asisted instruction program that would improve learning

effectiveness over the traditional methods. He posed the following

questions that had to be addressed before a fully intelligent CAI could

be realized:

(a) Suppose the student has no idea about how to solve a problem

what information should the computer provide?

(b) Suppose the student solves part of the problems and gets and

stuck what should the computer do?

(c) Should the computer stop the student as soon as the first error is

made or at what further point?

(d) An intelligent tutor may normally be able to deduce the

intermediate step which caused the error in pupils work. Can the

computer be provided with same kind of skills.

Gagne pointed out (quoted in Hickey 1974) that a big problem

with computerized dialogue was that most students were not facile

with keyboard communications. He felt that to communicate to the

129 Brown, John Seely, (1977), "Uses of artificial intelligence and advanced

computer technology in education", Computers and Communication, Robert J. Seidel and Martin Rubin, eds N.N. Academic Press.

127

computer through the keyboard and video display was one of the

biggest bottlenecks in the whole business. The greater the tutorial's

capacity for dialogue, the more typing skill, spelling proficiency and

the ability to follow directions become prerequisites for adequate use

of CAI.

Panther et. al. (1999) saw the instructional use of computers as

part of a crisis, leading to dehumanization of education. Patterson and

many others like him opined that he claim that the students could learn

more efficiently with computer assisted instruction had not been

adequately demonstrated.

Bakeer (1999) through his survey studies had a strong criticism

centered on the view that computers had too frequently been an

intrusion into the classroom, promoted by zealous people whose belief

and material were insensitive and unsympathetic to school aims and

objectives. He made the point that the available hardware and software

was promoted without regard for the value and validity of the

classroom practice.

Wainwright (1999) evaluated the effects of using a Physics

software package as a supplement to traditional instruction in high

school Physics. Analysis of assessment of Physics knowledge revealed

that there was no difference in the control and supplementary group.

A similar study, investigating the effect of supplemental

128

computer instruction in high school Mathematics class, was made by

Mac. (1999). He compared the levels of achievement in two

instruction formats and found that there was no difference in the

achievement between students who had access to computers outside

the classroom for two hours or less per week and those who did not.