Date of Graduation

1974

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

For the p ast four years a new educational systems approach c alled Guided Design has been used a t West V irg in ia U niversity to teach engineering freshmen the process of decision-m aking (or design) as w ell as the concepts of conservation of energy, flu id flow , and s t a t i c s . This study was conducted to compare th e use o f programmed In s tru c ­ tio n to the le c tu re -te x t method fo r learn in g su b ject m atter m ate rial in the Guided Design Educational System. Ninety th ree (93) members of the freshman c lass were divided Into two groups: 1) the experim ental group using programmed m aterials and 2) the tr a d itio n a l group using the le c tu re - te x t method. Each of these groups were fu rth e r subdivided in to students w ith high math ap titu d e and those w ith low math a p titu d e . The experim ental group used the program m aterial from the te x t Guided Engineering Design by C. E. Wales, R. A. S tag er, and T. R. Long (West P ublishing, S t. Paul, 1974). A s e rie s of le c tu re s and a standard te x t were used to teach the t r a ­ d itio n a l group the same su b ject m atter. A p re te s t and a s e rie s of th ree post te s ts were used to evaluate the e ffectiv en ess of th e two teaching methods. The r e s u lts of th is study showed th a t the experim ental group gained s ig n ific a n tly more knowledge about s ta t ic s than did the tr a d itio n a l group. In a d d itio n , the stu dents in the experim ental group w ith the low math ap titu d e showed a s ig n ific a n tly g re a te r change in th e ir te s t scores than the o th er groups.

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