Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-2001

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Landscape Architecture

Major Professor

Susan L. Hamilton

Committee Members

Mary Lewnes Albrecht, Mike Mullen, Randol Waters

Abstract

As educators continue to integrate computer-assisted instruction (CAI) into college courses, it is important to determine its effectiveness as an instructional mode. Various disciplines such as math, chemistry, nutrition, and business have studied the effect of CAI, but it not yet been determined in the horticulture discipline. The purpose of this study was to determine whether CAI was more effective than traditional instruction (Tl) in an introductory-level horticulture college course. To determine the effectiveness of the two instructional modes, this study measured student performance, student attitudes toward the course, and changes in student attitudes toward computers and CAI. Also, this study researched the interaction of course study time, student gender, and student major between instructional mode and student performance. Six performance assessments were used to measure student performance: total lecture exam scores, total plant identification scores, total quiz scores, career paper scores, total paper scores, and final semester grades. No significant differences were found between instructional mode and student performance. Student attitudes toward the course were measured using the Student Assessment of Instruction System survey (SAIS). CAI and Tl students indicated positive attitudes toward course content and the instructor, however. there were no significant differences between instructional mode and student attitudes toward the course. To determine changes in student attitudes toward computers and CAI, an attitudinal survey was administered on the first and last day of class. No significant differences existed between the pretest and posttest survey, indicating that student attitudes toward computers and CAI did not change over the course of the semester. To record the time they spent studying outside of class, students used a bi-weekly time sheet. This study found no significant interactions between course study time, instructional mode, and student performance. However, this study did find that course study time did significantly relate to student performance on total quiz scores—students who studied the most achieved significantly higher scores. This study found that gender and student major did not moderate the effect of instructional mode upon student performance in an introductory-level horticulture course. Significant differences were found, however, between student major and student performance on total lecture exams scores and final semester grades. Also, significant differences existed between males and females regarding performance on plant identification exams.

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