Independent student learning aided by computers: an acceptable alternative to lectures?

• Published in: Computers and education Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 223 - 241
• Main Authors: Dewhurst, David G, Macleod, Hamish A, Norris, Tracey A.M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, N.Y Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2000; Pergamon Press
• Subjects: Comparative Analysis; Computer Assisted Instruction; Evaluation of CAL systems; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Improving classroom teaching; Independent Study; Instructional Effectiveness; Interactive learning environments and teaching/learning strategies; Intermode Differences; Lecture Method; Questionnaires; Student Attitudes; Tables (Data); United Kingdom; United Kingdom; Evaluation of CAL systems; Interactive learning environments and teaching/learning strategies; Improving classroom teaching
• ISSN: 0360-1315; 1873-782X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0360-1315(00)00033-6

Computer-based learning (CBL) is now a feature of many university curricula. Where CBL is used to replace traditional teaching, it is important to monitor its effectiveness in relation to the forms of teaching it replaces. A previous study (Dewhurst, D.G., & Williams, A.D. (1998). An investigation of the potential for a computer-based program covering the cardiovascular system to replace traditional lectures. Computers and Education 31, 301–317.), employing a cross-over design, of a single cohort of undergraduate students who used either a specifically-designed CBL package or received lectures, demonstrated that student-learning was equivalent, and that students’ attitudes to using CBL became more positive after they had experienced using it. One problem with the study was that it was carried out in a tutor-supported environment which may not reflect how CBL would be used in a real teaching situation, i.e. for learning independent of tutor support. Here we report the results of a second study, carried out in the same UK University on a subsequent cohort of undergraduate students studying a first year Human Physiology module. It employed standard evaluation tools to measure the effectiveness of replacing six 1-h lectures on the cardiovascular system with CBL materials developed in-house. The CBL materials were used in a learning environment in which students were responsible for organising their own learning; tutor support was not provided and a standard module assessment (summative, unseen course examination) was used. Questionnaires, delivered before and after the CBL learning experience, were used to assess students’ perceptions of the usefulness and effectiveness of the CBL materials compared to lectures. The results suggested that students were able to organise their own learning effectively, they were generally positive about using CBL, and learning, as measured by examination performance, was equivalent in an area of the module content wholly supported by CBL to that in an area supported by lectures.