Teaching programs are being built throughout the world to make learning easier and more effective. Many of these programs are assumed to produce a change in behavior of the students in the direction of stated objectives of the programs. A satisfactory performance by the students on tests which are written for the programs is usually assumed to be a reflection of the effectiveness of the programs without considering the influence of knowledge which the studentsbring into the programs. The pre-instructional knowledge of students should be separated from their post-instructional knowledge when assessments of the effects of instruction are conducted.In order to establish a framework for examining the effects of specific instructional tasks at the demonstration stations for the biology program for non-biology majors at Ball State University, a cyclic model for evaluating and instructing students was designed. The present study involved only the evaluating phase of the model. Four multiple-choice test items were written for each of 97 demonstration stations. A total of 388 multiple-choice test items constituted the measurement instrument for the study.A minimum of 50 students were tested before and after instructions at each of the 97 stations. Students arrived at the demonstration stations with varying degrees of related knowledge. Although significant knowledge gains occurred at each of the 97 demonstration stations, students acquired substantially larger amounts of knowledge at some stations than at others. The knowledge gains (which reflect the interaction-product of individuals' natural capabilities and the effects of instruction) were ranked for the nine units into which the program was sub-divided. This ranking reflects knowledge gains on a relative scale. Students' pre-instructional knowledge of some units was low with the result that when pre-instructional scores were subtracted from post-instructional scores the knowledge gains were high with correspondingly high ranking in knowledge gains. This does not necessarily mean that the total knowledge of the student is high for such units.When the mean post-test scores for each unit were ranked, an estimate of the relative total amount of knowledge of the students after they interacted with the instructional materials was obtained. These rankings are considered valid only to the extent that the measurement instrument measured the constructs it purports to measure.Students' knowledge gains were substantial enough to encourage continual use of the demonstration stations. However, data indicate that demonstration stations should be examined and that revision should be initiated which could enhance the learning experiences provided for students.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/174709 |
| Date | January 1975 |
| Creators | Adeyinka, Jacob Adeyemi |
| Contributors | Nisbet, Jerry J. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | xv, 510 leaves, 102 leaves of plates : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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