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The Florida State model of computer-managed instruction (CMI) differs from other such models in that it assumes a student will achieve his maximum performance level by interacting directly with the computer in order to evaluate his learning experience. In this system the computer plays the role of real-time diagnostician and prescriber for the student and serves as a master record-keeper for the entire student population. To test this model of CMI, systems concepts were used in developing a programed course to teach graduate education students the techniques of programed instruction. In a field trial of the course, four instructional presentations were used: students followed a fixed sequence of tasks and had a graduate student evaluate their progress, students selected their own sequence of tasks and had a graduate student evaluate their progress, students followed a fixed sequence and evaluated their progress with the aid of a computer, and students selected their own sequence and evaluated their progress with the aid of a computer. No significant differences were found among the experimental treatment groups. Student performance on the cognitive portion of the course was excellent, and it was estimated that the cost of conducting the course via CMI was one-half to one-third the cost of conventional graduate instruction. (Author/JY)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert