Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

Designed to develop a more practical model for adapting context to learner interests, this study used computer-based instruction to make alternative contexts for statistics problems--sports, business, education, or no-context--available for selection by individual learners. The subjects were 227 undergraduate students enrolled in required education courses at Memphis State University. The context adaptation strategy was evaluated as it was used both independently of and in combination with learner control (LC) of the practice examples. The research design involved the manipulation of standard (prescribed) contexts versus LC-context in combination with standard instructional support versus LC-instructional support. The study also investigated the nature of LC decisions in relation to the types of instructional options made available and learner characteristics. Instruments used in the study were the Nelson-Denney Reading Test, a unit pretest, a unit posttest, and a task attitude survey. Analyses of the data revealed little difference between the treatments in achievement; students who received minimum support found the lesson faster moving than those who received maximum support; 92% of the subjects had positive attitudes toward the desirability of selecting problem themes; and learners with higher prior achievement and reading ability tended to complete the task faster, score higher on the posttest, and view the task more favorably. It was concluded that, although the achievement results failed to support the hypothesized benefits for learning, a practical model for incorporating contextual adaptation in CBI had been developed and demonstrated. (37 references) (BBM)

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