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The effect of method of instruction--computer-assisted instruction versus individualized instruction and the age of students on vocabulary development as well as the interaction of these factors were investigated. A random sample of 96 adult basic education students were taught 25 vocabulary words from the South Carolina Basic Skills Word List. The students were drawn from the adult education programs in a South Carolina School District that had an enrollment of 1,700 adult education students. The subjects in the study were given the Test of Adult Basic Education to assure that they were reading above the fourth grade level. One half were given vocabulary instruction using computer-assisted instruction and the other half were given instruction via an individualized laboratory method. The subjects were also divided by age into two groups. Four treatments groups were included in the study; a younger and older group were taught by the two methods of instruction. The results of analysis of variance and the Duncan Multiple Range tests indicated a significant difference between the older students taught by computer-assisted instruction and the younger group taught by individualized laboratory instruction. Significant differences did not occur between any of the other groups.
The findings confirmed earlier studies suggesting that computer-assisted instruction is probably a viable method of instruction for adult students and that the age of students does not effect the ability to learn by computer-assisted instruction.