Content area
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to research the following hypotheses: (a) There is no significant difference between the experimental (CAI) and control (Practice Set) groups in final mean score on the posttest; (b) there is no significant difference between field independent (FI) and field dependent (FD) groups in final mean score on the posttest; (c) there is no significant difference between the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) groups and group achievement in final mean score on the posttest; and (d) there is no significant difference between experimental and control groups or between field independent/dependent groups in reported time spent studying the filing rules.
Students in two sections (n = 29) of an office machines course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln were administered the GEFT and pretest. Based on GEFT scores, the subjects were divided into four groups--CAI/FI, CAI/FD, Practice Set/FI, and Practice Set/FD.
Two teachers were utilized to introduce and interact with the different groups. Each teacher worked with both an experimental and a control group. After a brief introduction to their method of instruction, the students were given two weeks to complete their study of the alphabetic filing rules, whereupon they were given a posttest.
The CAI publication used was Rules for Alphabetical Filing, published by Bytes & Books, Inc. The practice set utilized was Filing Systems for Information Management, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to study the interactions between variables. There were no significant interactions between groups. The following within-group interactions were obtained: (a) Control group scored significantly higher than the experimental group; (b) field independent group scored significantly higher than field dependent group; (c) both experimental and control groups scored significantly higher between pretest and posttest scores; and (d) field independent group spent significantly less time studying the rules than did the field dependent.
