The interactive effects of individual learning style, computer software, and teacher involvement on developing typing skill

Abstract

This research examines the effects and interactions of an individual's learning style, the type of computer software, and the level of teacher involvement on students learning how to type on a computer keyboard. The research was conducted in the San Antonio Northside School District's Adult Community Education typing classes. Seventy-six students participated in the study. The students learned how to type on IBM compatible computers with either Alphabetic Keyboarding (1989) or Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing (1991). Currently, the school district uses the Alphabetic Keyboarding, software in its adult and high school typing courses. Mavis Beacon was chosen by the investigator because of its usability, various features, and self-paced learning design. The dependent measures for this research are typing rate (adjusted for accuracy) and drop-out rate which is traditionally high for most continuing education classes. A subjective preference survey was distributed to measure the effect of an individual's learning style on software usability and feature design ratings. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory (1976) was used to determine an individual's learning style. The two levels of teacher involvement were personable and detached which were based on the two instructors of the typing classes. This research found that the typing rate measure exhibited a change for the positive or negative dependent upon the software available to a particular learning style. Of the Mavis Beacon students, three of the four learning styles experienced a gain in their typing rate as compared to the Alphabetic Keyboarding students. The interactive effect of level of teacher involvement and software type was also discovered to influence the typing rate of students. The type of software used in the classroom was found to greatly influence the drop-out rate. A fifty percent decrease was experienced in the classes with the Mavis Beacon software as compared to those with Alphabetic Keyboarding. The subjective preference survey results highlighted specific feature preferences of the four learning styles as individuals and combined.