The effects of mathematics instruction based on the elaboration theory of instruction and computer assisted presentation on achievement and retention of learning

The basic purpose of this study is to compare mathematics instruction based on the Elaboration Theory of Instruction (ETI) and " computer assisted " presentation with the traditional - teacher centered instruction method, and also investigate their effects' on academic achievement, performance levels and retention of learning. The sample of the study consisted of 120 sixth grade students from three separate classes selected randomly from Yavuzlar Elementary School in the province of Adana. Two of these classes have randomly been assigned to the "experimental ", and the other one as the "control" group of the study. While instruction in the control group has been carried out in the traditional-teacher centered fashion, in the experimental group- 1, instruction has been done based on ETI only, and in the experimental group - 2 "computer assisted " presentation based on ETI has been applied. The materials used in the " computer assisted " group have been prepared using the commercially available program " PowerPoint 8.0". In analysis of the data, the techniques of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) have been used. Among the experimental groups, the class of the " computer assisted" group has been slightly higher, but no significant difference between these two groups has been found with respect to their academic success and retention of what they have learned. On the other hand, the level of academic success and the retention of the learning have been significantly higher in both experimental groups where " computer assisted " instruction based on ETI has been used in one group and instruction based upon only ETI has been applied in the other, compared to the control group where the traditional teacher-centered education has been carried out. Another important result of the present study is that the success of experimental groups over the control group with respect to academic success and retention of learning was mostly related to the levels of comprehension and application rather than the level of remembering (knowledge).Keywords : The Elaboration Theory of Instruction, Computer-Assisted Presentation, Instructional Theory, Mathematics Instruction.