THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPUTER-ASSISTED DRILL AND PRACTICE IN A FIRST-YEAR COLLEGE GERMAN COURSE (CAI, FOREIGN LANGUAGE, BEGINNING)
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to determine (a) the effectiveness of computer-assisted drill and practice in first semester German classes and (b) the correlation between student-set goals for achievement and the subsequent level of achievement actually attained. Two experimental and two control classes at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) containing a total of 126 students were randomly selected to participate in the study. Actual classroom procedures were the same for both groups. However, while students in the control group prepared their homework consisting of written exercises from the text, Deutsch und Deutschland heute, by Albert L. and Danuta S. Lloyd, (New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1981) in the conventional manner, students in the experimental classes completed their written assignments on the UNH DEC-10 mainframe computer which had been programmed with the same exercises using the GNOSIS authoring language. Pretest measures established that the groups were significantly different in aptitude, achievement and interest-motivation (p < .05) at the beginning of the semester. A one-way analysis of variance was carried out on posttest measures. Results indicated that the groups were not significantly different at the end of the semester in achievement or in interest-motivation. Instructor effect was stronger than treatment effect, particularly with regard to interest-motivation. Computer records showed that students in the experimental groups had, on the average, completed fewer than half of their computer assignments during the designated time period, a factor which may have influenced achievement. Correlations between the desired grades of experimental students and the final grades attained were low (r = .215). Seventy-two percent of the students evaluated the programs positively, although many (fifty-nine percent) felt that they were too time consuming, even though the average student was logged into the system only slightly more than one and one-half hours per week. Computer use varied widely from .216 to 4.25 hours per week. Having a computer-literate foreign language instructor work directly with the students as they drill might lead to more effective use of the medium. It was also recommended that students work with the programs on a voluntary basis until they have become accustomed to using computers.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Language arts|Educational software
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