Browse Theses

This study investigated the effects of learner and program controlled feedback and students' level of field orientation on achievement in a computer-assisted instructional task.

Ninety-two undergraduate students enrolled in the College of Education at The University of Georgia participated in the study. These participants were administered the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) to assess their level of field dependence-independence. The students then were matched and randomly assigned to one of two CAI treatment groups: program controlled feedback or learner controlled feedback. Their achievement was measured by a 22-item on-line posttest immediately after the CAI lesson.

Regression analyses indicated that an effect due to control over feedback. Students experiencing learner controlled feedback outperformed students in the program controlled feedback condition.

A statistically significant effect due to the level of field orientation also was found with those students who scored higher on the GEFT tending to achieve higher posttest scores. There was, in addition, a statistically significant interaction between treatment and subjects' level of field dependence-independence. Field dependent students scored higher on the posttest in the learner controlled feedback condition than in the program controlled feedback condition. Field independent students did not score significantly different in either treatment. In the learner controlled feedback group, no relationship was found between the amount of feedback requested and subjects' level of field orientation. Multiple repression analyses revealed that there was a positive correlation between the total amount of feedback requested and achievement. There was no evidence, however, that the different forms of feedback (knowledge of correct response and elaborative feedback) made a differential contribution to posttest achievement.