An experimental comparison was made of two mediations of spelling instruction with sight words: a traditional paper and pencil presentation and a computer-assisted presentation. Five students identified as learning disabled participated in the investigation over the course of five to six weeks in an elementary mainstreamed setting. The microcomputer presentation consisted of a commercially available spelling program incorporating visual and auditory error verification procedures. A counterbalanced ABAC/ACAB intrasubject replication design was used to evaluate the spelling performances (percent correct, correct spelling sequences, and rates of responses).Findings1. The results indicated that the microcomputer presentation of the spelling words did not effectively enhance achievement over that of paper and pencil.2. The use of error verification procedures with the microcomputer format did not result in more efficient learning. Rather, these subjects learned more quickly without the verification procedures. Informal observations further indicated that the students ignored the cues provided for verification.3. The intrasubject replication format of this investigation indicated that there were no order effects of the treatment conditions or of the error verification conditions.4. The students in this experiment required a longer session each day and took more time to respond when working on the microcomputer than with the paper and pencil presentation. These students, however, lacked typing skills which increased their response times on the microcomputer.5. Informal observations indicated that attention-to-task behavior was enhanced by the microcomputer. Although the subjects worked for a longer period of time in this mode, their attention was focused on the task.6. Because of the questionable instructional value of much of the software, the use of microcomputers in comparison with traditional and less costly modes of instruction should be carefully evaluated.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/177390 |
| Date | 03 June 2011 |
| Creators | Kitterman, Joan F. |
| Contributors | Ulman, Jerome D. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | vi, 95 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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