A comparison of programmed instruction versus lecture-demonstration as a method for teaching digital computer arithmetic at the post-secondary school level

Abstract

ADD The purposes of this study were to determine the effectiveness of programmed instruction on the teaching of digital computer arithmetic to the post-secondary electronic technology students and to compare the results with the lecture-demonstration method. This study also attempted to determine if students' previous knowledge of digital computer arithmetic influenced the posttest scores. The study was conducted at the Institute of Electronic Science, a division of the Texas Engineering Extension Service at College Station, Texas. Data compiled from a sample of 41 students were used for statistical comparisons. There were 21 students in the experimental group who received the programmed instruction and there were 20 students in the control group who received the conventional lecture-demonstration instruction. A pretest was administered at the beginning of the experimental study. A posttest was given to both groups of students after the treatments had been applied. The Split-Half method and the Spearman-Brown Prophecy formula were utilized to calculate the reliability coefficients of the pretest and the posttest. The calculated reliability coefficients of the pretest and the posttest were .865 and .945 respectively, an indication that both pretest and posttest appeared to be measuring the same phenomena. The statistical design of the experiment utilized the Pretest-Posttest Two-Group Simple Randomized Design. The analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data statistically. The .05, non-directional, statistical significance level was used to test the hypotheses. The conclusions formulated from the analysis of data collected through this research indicated that: (1) Programmed instruction was as effective as a conventional lecture-demonstration method in teaching students digital computer arithmetic. (2) The posttest scores of experimental and control groups have no linear relationship with that of the pretest scores. (3) Both the programmed instruction and the lecture-demonstration methods were effective in promoting students' achievements in the learning of digital computer arithmetic.