EFFECT OF REHEARSAL STRATEGIES AND TESTING FORMAT ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT OF DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES.
Contributors: Pennsylvania State University.
Published: 1994
Number of pages: 115
Subjects: Education, Technology.; Education, Adult and Continuing.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study examined the effect of varied instructional treatments on achievement of a set of different educational objectives measured by verbal/visual testing formats. A 2,000-word self-paced instructional script concerning the parts and functions of the human heart was revised and used in this study. The educational objectives evaluated were: identification, terminology, comprehension, and total achievement. It was hypothesized that achievement of different educational objectives in a self-paced learning environment when measured by verbal or visual test forms is affected by different instructional treatments. It was further hypothesized that different testing formats (verbal or visual) measure the same information acquisition and that no interaction would exist between instructional treatment and test mode.

Three hundred fifty-two students enrolled in nursing and biology courses at two midwestern community colleges were subjects in the experimental procedures. The instructional treatments contained varied rehearsal strategies to facilitate acquisition and retrieval of information. Four treatments adapted from the heart script were adapted for this study: print presentation alone (control), print presentation with questions on the content, print presentation with visuals, and print presentation with questions and visuals. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the four treatments. After completion of the instructional treatment, subjects were immediately and randomly assigned to one of two test modes to measure achievement of the different educational objectives.

For the identification, terminology, and composite criterion test in the verbal test format and for the identification criterion test in the visual test format, analysis of variance tests indicated the effectiveness of the print presentation complemented by the rehearsal strategies of questions and visuals. A significant difference was found between verbal and visual test modes on the comprehension and composite criterion measures.

In this study, the combination of text-based rehearsal strategies facilitated learning for certain types of educational objectives. Suggestions for further research include replication and delayed testing.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-12, Section: A, page: 3820.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, 1994.

School code: 0176.