The effect of computer-generated delays of varying duration upon student attitudes toward computer assisted instruction

Hyde, Robert George (1983) The effect of computer-generated delays of varying duration upon student attitudes toward computer assisted instruction. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Little research has been carried out on performance criteria for computer systems used in the classroom for computer assisted instruction (CAI). Brief interruptions and delays are common in such systems. Faster, more responsive equipment may be too expensive. -- This study was initiated to investigate the effects of random computer-generated delays on the attitudes of both male and female students towards CAI. The study also sought to look into the effects of these delays on students’ achievement in a CAI lesson. -- Fifty-four third year university students were randomly divided into three groups of eighteen subjects each. The first group, the control group, completed a CAI lesson in which there were no delays. The second group, an experimental group, was given a version of the same lesson in which they experienced seven delays with mean duration of eight seconds. The third group was given another experimental treatment, a version of the lesson in which the length of each delay had been doubled for a mean duration of sixteen seconds. At the end of the lesson each subject was required to complete a ten-item achievement test and an eleven item semantic differential attitude questionnaire. -- The scores from the attitude scale were statistically analysed using several applications of the analysis of variance technique. No differences in attitude towards CAI were found between the three subject groups nor between male and female subjects. -- The scores from the achievement test were also analysed by analysis of variance tests. No differences were found in achievement scores between the three groups. -- The results of this study indicate that, within certain limitations, random delays of up to sixteen seconds mean duration are tolerable in computer assisted instruction systems.

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