The effectiveness of distance education for computer application software instruction versus the cost of development and implementation

Author

Martha Anne Brock

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Cornelious, Linda

Committee Member

Dill, Anna

Committee Member

Morse, David

Committee Member

Newman, Michael

Committee Member

Brook, Dan R.

Date of Degree

12-11-2009

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Technology Teacher Education

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)

College

College of Education

Department

Department of Instructional Systems and Workforce Development

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if various types of distance education formats would be suitable for conducting a training course for a computer application. The study sought to determine if a face-toace format, interactive video format, minimally interactive online format or highly interactive and multimedia rich online format produced similar results in student performance in a training course for a computer application. The secondary purpose of this study was to determine if the increased cost of development of a highly interactive and multimedia rich online format was justified based on observed differences in student achievement in an online environment. This study consisted of 97 employees of the Mississippi State University Extension Service enrolled in the Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2007 course offered by the Computer Application Services Department of the Mississippi State University Extension Service. The result of an analysis of variance utilizing the method of instruction as the independent variable and the calculated change in score when subtracting the pretest score from the posttest score as the dependent variable resulted in a statistically significant difference in change scores based on treatment at the .05 level. The study also found that face-toace instruction had the lowest mean cost per unit gained for all methods of instruction studied and the highest mean achievement gained overall.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/16228

Comments

effectiveness of distance education||cost of distance education

Recommended Citation

Brock, Martha Anne, "The effectiveness of distance education for computer application software instruction versus the cost of development and implementation" (2009). Theses and Dissertations. 4386.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/4386