The role of advance organizers, learner control, and student\u27s locus-of-control on acquisition of pharmacokinetic concepts and attitudes towards computer-assisted instruction

The proper use of instructional tools and the appropriate learning environment contributes to successful computer assisted instruction. This research examined the impact of advance organizers and learner control factors. In addition, we used the Levenson locus of control scale and developed the Bill/MacDougall academic locus of control scale to predict performance on the experimental tests and attitude responses. The first experiment was a 2 x 2 factorial using a hierarchical versus a no-organizer group crossed with a learner controlled conditions and a computer controlled condition. Levenson and Bill/MacDougall locus of control surveys and attitude surveys were done. The organizer increased motivation, as reported by subject responses to attitude questions, but did not significantly affect test performance. Experimental test performance was most strongly correlated to time spent in the instructional material. Because a significant percentage of learner controlled subjects terminated the instruction early (early opt-out), the test scores for this group was significantly lower than the computer controlled subjects. Veterinary students showed strong Levenson Internal scores but strong Bill/MacDougall Powerful Others scores indicating a shift in locus of control between general life and the academic setting. The Levenson scale failed to predict any aspects of test performance or attitude response. Subjects with a strong Bill/MacDougall Powerful Others scale score under computer controlled conditions (called congruent learning condition) significantly (p $\u3c$ 0.05) outperformed equivalent Powerful Others subjects in the learner controlled condition. No significant correlation of either scale to GPA was found. A series of validation studies and refinements were done on the Bill/MacDougall scale between the first and second experiment including Spearman-Brown, Cronbach Alpha, and Varimax factor rotation studies. In the second experiment, students from the veterinary medical program, veterinary technology program, and non-veterinary academic programs were tested in either a No-Organizer, Hierarchical Organizer, or Graphic Organizer group, each of which was split into a learner controlled and computer controlled group. No effect of the organizer type or the type of control situation had a significant impact on the post test scores. The Graphic Organizer group completed a greater amount of the instruction. There was a negative correlation for Bill/MacDougall Internal score and test performance and a positive correlation for the Bill/MacDougall Chance score and test performance. The Bill/MacDougall scale scores differentiated veterinary students from the other subjects in the experiment suggesting that veterinary students have academic loci of control that is different from other academic programs