Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to develop the Problem-Solving-Based Computer-Assisted Instruction (PSBCAI) and investigate the impacts of the PSBCAI on students' learning outcomes. The PSBCAI is based on the following four problem-solving stages: presenting the problem, planning solutions, collecting necessary information, and carrying out plans. Participants included 155 tenth-grade students enrolled in a required earth science course at a national senior high school located in the centra l region of Taiwan. Data collection instruments included the Achievement Test on the Debris-Flow Hazard, Attitudes toward Earth Science Inventory, and the CAI Opinions Questionnaire. A pretest-posttest control-group experimental design was employed, i.e., the experimental group students received the PSBCAI and the comparison group students received the Non-PSBCAI (NPSBCAI). The pretest, posttest, and a retention test were administered to the students immediately before, after, and 8 weeks after the CAI in struction, respectively. The CAI software consisted of six major learning sections and was able to log students' learning and duration. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) and an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to analyze quantitative data. Results revealed that (1) the PSBCAI significantly improve the achievement of students, especially at the knowledge level, to a greater degree than the NPSBCAI; (2) the PSBCAI significantly enhanced students' comprehension level on the retention test to a greater degree than the NPSBCAI; (3) there were no significant differences between the two groups on both student attitudes toward the subject matter and student opinions toward the CAI; and (4) the PSBCAI group students spent significantly more time in the simu lation-type "Field Trip," learning section than the NPSBCAI group students. The PSBCAI group also engaged in significantly more metacognition-type reflection than the NPSBCAI students. These findings suggest that incorporating the PSBCAI into secondary sc hools has the potential to improve students' earth science achievement and serving as a model for future CAI development.
| Keywords: | secondary education; problem solving; Computer-Assisted Instruction; learning outcomes. |
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