Comparative Effectiveness of Individually Prescribed Instruction and the Lecture Demonstration Method to Achieve Behavioral Objectives for a Descriptive Astronomy Course

Abstract

The present study will compare a self-paced individually prescribed instructional system with the lecture-demonstration method for achieving behavioral objectives in elementary astronomy (cognitive effect), and compare the changes in student's attitudes toward astronomy (affective response) in each of these two groups.
This study will also examine the possible relationships between certain characteristic the students bring with them to the source and their ability to learn within each method when measured by their gain in knowledge of astronomy (cognitive effect).