The impact of different forms of multimedia CAI on students' science achievement

The study described in this paper has explored the effects of teacher-centred vs. student-centred multimedia computer-assisted instruction (CAI) on the science achievements of tenth-grade students. A total of 244 tenth-grade senior high-school students (attending six science classes) participated in this pre-test/post-test comparison-group experiment. During a one-week period, one group of students (n = 123) were taught by a teacher-centred multimedia CAI scheme (TMCAI) whereas the other group of students (n = 121) was subjected to a student-centred multimedia CAI (SMCAI) effect. An analysis of covariance on the Earth Science Achievement Test post-test scores with students' pre-test scores as the covariate revealed that the teacher-centred teaching approach was more effective in promoting students' science achievements than was the student-centred method - especially on the knowledge and application levels of the cognitive domain. Some implications for the implementation of multimedia CAI within secondary-science classrooms are discussed.