Date of Award

1-1-1986

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Business and Vocational Education

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to compare the keyboarding performance of sixth graders resulting from two different teaching methods--computer-assisted instruction and teacher-directed instruction.The subjects were 132 sixth graders at Franklin Middle School in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. Each class met 50 minutes daily for six weeks in a microcomputer lab. The four control classes were taught as a group from a textbook, with everyone proceeding at the same rate. The four experimental classes received their instruction from computer software and progressed at their own pace.The background data collected on each student included previous keyboarding instruction, ownership of a microcomputer, piano-playing ability, achievement test scores, and prior computer use. At the beginning and end of the period students were given one-minute straight-copy timings, which were scored for speed (gross words a minute) and accuracy (percent of errors). During the instructional period their absences were recorded and their technique was rated. The final week they completed evaluations of the class.Analysis of covariance revealed the following significant results: females achieved higher speeds than males; the computer-assisted group achieved higher speeds than the teacher-directed group; achievement scores, piano-playing ability, and absenteeism were related to speed scores; females were more accurate than males; there was no difference in accuracy between treatment groups; there was no difference in technique between males and females or between treatment groups; achievement scores, previous keyboarding instruction, and absenteeism were related to technique scores.Tabulation of student responses on the evaluation forms revealed the following: almost half of the students found the class more interesting than their other classes and expressed a desire to take more keyboarding; both groups were highly satisfied with what they had learned and felt they would use keyboarding skills in the future; almost all of the students enjoyed working with microcomputers and found them easy to use; a third of the students experienced fatigue during the learning process; the keyboarding software was more popular with both groups than the textbook. Students in the computer-assisted group found the software easy to use and felt that it helped increase their speed and accuracy.

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