Effect Of Supporting Computer Based Instruction With A Paper Based Worksheet On The Performance Of 5 Th Graders

The use of computer-based instructional technologies in educational settings has created a debate on the possibility of computer technology completely replacing traditional methods of teaching and learning. While supporters of this notion have based their arguments on the effectiveness of computer-based instruction, others have argued that the effectiveness can be better harnessed if used in conjunction with traditional methods of instruction. This study explores the effect of providing a supplemental paper-based worksheet to a selfinstructional interactive CD ROM on the performance of students in an elementary science class. Data were collected by means of a preand post-test experiment on a 5 th grade science class (N=91). The school’s administration had previously divided the class into four periods on the basis of the students’ academic abilities. Period 1 is the group of least achieving students and Period 4 the most achieving students. The specific objectives of the study were to determine if a supplemental paper-based worksheet when coupled with an interactive CDROM improved the performance of 5 th graders, and, if the impact of the supplemental worksheet differed across periods. For the purpose of this study each period was randomly divided into control and experimental groups. While the experimental groups worked with both the self-instructional interactive CD ROM and paper-based worksheet, the control groups worked only with the interactive CD ROM. Performance was measured by calculating the difference between the scores of the students in the preand post-tests. The results revealed that there was a significant difference between the control and experimental groups (P=0.0132) A two way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed that class period had no significant effect on the performance of the students (P=0.0674). Likewise, the result showed that there was no interaction between the use of the worksheet and class periods (P=0.1772) The study concludes that supplementing a CD ROM with a paper-based worksheet may improve the performance of students. The result of this study fills an existing research gap. Most of the experimental research on computer-aided learning involved the comparison of learners using computer-based instruction with learners using traditional methods. There have been very few experimental studies comparing groups of learners using computer-based instruction with learners using both computer-based and traditional paper-based instruction.