The Effect of Computer Assisted Instruction on The Academic Achievement and Retention of Technical High School Students in the Course of Fundamentals of Information Technology

In a world of rapidly advancing science and technology computer use in education has become inevitable as in all other areas. Traditional methods in teaching computer have some ineffective results in retention of knowledge in education due to the different learning and practice times of students. Therefore, other instruction materials including visual elements, animation and interactive multimedia instruction elements should be used in computer teaching in addition to traditional methods. A combination of Multimedia Applications consisting of audio, video, images and written texts sources could be used to explain a topic because Multimedia Applications appeal to more than one sense. Therefore, interaction opportunity will make learning process more effective. The study investigates the following questions: 1) Is there a significant difference between pretest and posttest scores of control group applied with traditional teaching methods? 2) Is there a significant difference between pretest and posttest scores of experimental group applied with Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI)? 3) Is there a significant difference between posttest and retention test scores of control group applied with traditional teaching methods? 4) Is there a significant difference between posttest and retention test scores of experimental group applied with CAI? This study aims to find out the effect of computer-based teaching activities on the academic achievement and retention of technical high school students in teaching vocational lessons compared to the traditional methods. In this regard, this study was conducted on 32 students of 10th class from Information Technologies Area of Technical High School in Niğde Bor. The students were equally separated into control and experimental groups, as each containing 16 students. Consequently, pretest results of both groups, used to determine the learning levels, were found close to each other. The experimental group was taught by Computer-Aided Teaching software and the control group was taught by traditional method. Expressions of posttest and retention test were given after four weeks. Achievement test was used as pretest, posttest and retention test while investigating the “Main-board and Boxes” and “Disk Drives” in the vocational lesson of “Fundamentals of Information Technologies”. Retention test was performed four weeks later than the posttest. A reliable and valid achievement test composed of 40 questions was * Bu araştırma Selçuk Üniversitesi BAP tarafından desteklenen ve SÜ Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsünde tamamlanmış olan yüksek lisans tezinin bir bölümünü kapsamaktadır. ** Yrd. Doç. Dr., Selçuk Üniversitesi *** Öğretmen, Bor Teknik ve Endüstri Meslek Lisesi Bilgisayar Destekli Öğretimin Teknik Lise Öğrencilerinin Bilişim Teknolojilerinin Temelleri Dersindeki Akademik Başarısına ve Kalıcılığa Etkisi Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi • 25 / 2011 330 prepared, and as a result, data were obtained. an educational software was designed for the “Fundamentals of Information Technologies” course. This software contains the materials of video, audio, multi-media elements and so on. Software also includes multi-media features by the speed of propagation between the individual student issues. During the preparation of instructional software, educational software design principles were used. The results of achievement tests were entered into SPSS and "t" test was performed. Accordingly, no significant difference was detected between the pretest results of experimental and control groups, which demonstrated that achievement levels of both groups in the selected topics were close to each other at the beginning. The mean point was 21.7188 in control group and 22.5000 in experimental group. When comparing pretest and posttest scores of the control group, the average pretest was 21.7188 and the average posttest was 50.7812, yielding a difference of 233%. This discrepancy was a positive percentage difference and also statistically significant (p<0.05). When comparing pretest and posttest scores of the experimental group, the average pretest was 22.5000 and the average posttest was 71.0938, yielding a difference of 315%. Similarly, this discrepancy was found positive and statistically significant (p<0.05). The results of the control group applied with traditional teaching method demonstrated significant academic success level of students. There was an expected increase in success levels of both experimental and control groups applied with different teaching methods. However, the increase was higher in the posttest results of experimental group (315%) compared to the pretest results of the control group (233%). The mean score of the posttest results of experimental group was 40% higher than the mean score of control group. Computer-Aided Instruction used in the experimental group shows the success of the methods. The mean scores of retention test were lower than the mean scores of posttest results in both groups. This difference was lower in experimental group. The percentage decrease between the results of posttest and retention test was 2.6% in experimental group, while it was 16.6% in control group. In both groups, there were significant differences between the posttest and retention test results in favor of the experimental group. Consequently, it could be inferred that computer aided instruction was more successful than traditional teaching methods. Students were more interested in educational software which appeals to multiple senses and they could control the software according to their individual learning speeds which played a role in the success of the students. Küpçüoglu (2008) determined a significant difference between the learning levels of experiment group applied with CAI and control group applied with traditional methods at the Programming Fundamentals Modules in the Course of Fundamentals of Information Technology in favor of experiment group. The arithmetic mean of control group applied with traditional methods was 14% higher compared to pretest results. This increase was 29% in experiment group. These results supported the findings of the present study. As a result of the present study, the importance of CAI was emphasized and the computers were concluded as effective instruction tools. In addition, it couldn’t be claimed that CAI will demonstrate similar success in all lessons. However, positive results were obtained on Technical High School students in the course of Fundamentals of Information Technology, and from this regard, it can be suggested that CAI will be effective in other stages of education compared to traditional methods. Following recommendations are made based on the results of the present study; Applicable Recommendations 1) Within the scope of Strengthening the Vocational Education and Training System, teachers should use CAI materials in the vocational lessons on information technologies instead of traditional methods. 2) Ministry of Education should make necessary organizations for the use of educational software in lectures within the scope of this project. Educational software used in the lectures should be prepared by the Ministry of Education in cooperation with universities. 3) In-service trainings should be given to provide teachers with necessary knowledge and skill to apply CAI methods. 4) Accessible and regularly updated infrastructure should be developed for educational software and opened for the use of teachers. This infrastructure should be constantly updated with the technologic advancements. 5) Technology should be used to make students more active. Study Recommendation 1) This study was carried out for the course of fundamentals of information technology lectured in 10th class. Researchers could examine the effectiveness of the methods by choosing different class levels and different lessons. 2) This study is limited with the “Main-Boards and Boxes” and “Disc Drivers” modules of Fundamentals of Information Technology Course in 10th class. The effects of CAI programs used in the study on academic success could be investigated for different modules, as well. 3) Researchers could make similar studies on larger numbers of students. 4) Also, studies could be performed to compare CAI applications with different teaching methods. Keyword: Computer Assisted Instruction, Educational Software, Instruction of vocational lessons The type of research: Research GİRİŞ Bilim ve teknolojinin hızla geliştiği dünyamızda her alanda olduğu gibi eğitim alanında da bilgisayarların kullanılması kaçınılmaz hale gelmiştir. Bilgisayar öğretiminde geleneksel yöntemlerin kullanılması, öğretimde kalıcılığın sağlanamaması, bireysel öğrenme hızlarındaki farklılıklar nedeniyle, ders içerisindeki öğrenme ve uygulama sürelerinde değişikliklerin oluşması sonucunu doğurmaktadır. Bu nedenle bilgisayar öğretiminde geleneksel yöntemlerin yanı sıra, görsel öğelerin kullanılması, öğretim sürecinin animasyon ve etkileşimli çoklu ortam öğeleriyle desteklenmesi ihtiyacını ortaya çıkarmıştır. Çoklu Ortam Uygulamaları (ÇOU) ses, video, görüntü ve yazılı metinlerin bir konuyu açıklamak için birlikte kullanılmasıyla oluşur Fatih BAŞÇİFTÇİ – Cüneyt SUNAY Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi • 25 / 2011 331 (Aydoğan, 2003). Eğitsel amaçlı teknoloji tabanlı ÇOU bireyin birden fazla duyusuna hitap edebilecek bir ortam sağlamasının yanı sıra etkileşim olanağı da sağlayarak öğrenmeyi daha etkili hale getirebilmektedir (Kılıçer ve ark., 2007). Ülkemizde mesleki eğitim veren ortaöğretim kurumlarında 2004–2005 EğitimÖğretim yılından itibaren Mesleki Eğitim ve Öğretimi Güçlendirme Projesi (MEGEP) kapsamında modüler yapıda eğitim verilmeye başlanmıştır. Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı’na bağlı mesleki eğitim veren okullarda uygulanmaya başlanan MEGEP kapsamında hazırlanan ders modüllerinin, öğrencilerin derslere karşı ilgilerini ve motivasyonunu sağlama noktasında yetersiz kaldığı görülm