The HIS-TRIAD project : the experiment and the experience.

Abstract

This dissertation is an examination of an experimental college level American History survey course which was taught in 1985 and which made use of computer technology, locally produced audio-video programs, and seminar-style discussions. The development of the instructional programs began in 1984 at Columbia State Community College in Columbia, Tennessee.

The study is a description of the development of the three instructional components, the implementation of the program, and its evaluation. Because the computer-managed-interactive video component is regarded as the most innovative in conception and the most labor-intensive in development, it is the component which the dissertation emphasizes. The author of the dissertation is also the project's designer, director, and instructor.

The findings are based on student evaluations, comparative testing with control and experimental groups, and the observations of professionals in education and instructional media. One conclusion is that the project's multiplicity of instructional methods, its element of independent and self-paced study, and its discussion component contributed significantly to the very positive affective student responses. Another conclusion is that, given the production costs and the labor-intensive work, those costs may not have been justified by the marginal advantage in the comprehensive exam grades enjoyed by experimental students over those in the control groups.