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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of implementing cooperative learning and objectives with computer-based instruction (CBI). Subjects were 125 fifth and sixth grade students. Cooperative dyads and individuals worked through a CBI earth science program that contained either instructional objectives, advance organizers, or no orienting activities. Results indicated that students who received instructional objectives performed significantly better on intentional posttest items than students who received either advance organizers or no orienting activities. Results also revealed that dyads who received objectives exhibited significantly more on-task group behaviors, more helping behaviors, and fewer off-task behaviors than dyads in the other orienting activity conditions. Furthermore, learning strategy influenced time on task; individuals spent significantly more time on instruction and practice than cooperative dyads. Implications for CBI developers are explored. (Contains 52 references.) (Author/MES)

This study examines the effect of cooperative versus individual learning strategies and the need for affiliation on achievement, attitude, and student interactions when receiving instructional television lessons. Subjects (n=126) were undergraduate education majors enrolled in a required course in educational psychology. Subjects classified as high or low affiliation used either a cooperative or individual learning strategy while receiving instruction from a television lesson. Study participants completed a need for affiliation scale, viewed an instructional television program on objectives-based assessment, answered questions for practice and read feedback sections in a workbook, and took a posttest following the program. The television lesson was designed following a competency-based approach and included objectives, information, examples, practice, feedback, and review. Results include: (1) there was no significant difference between subjects who used cooperative and individual learning strategies when overall achievement and application were tested; (2) subjects who worked alone performed significantly better on the knowledge portion of the posttest than those who worked cooperatively; (3) the need for affiliation was related to attitude toward future learning activities; and (4) the need for affiliation was related to student interaction behaviors. Study results indicate that cooperative learning does not always increase learning from instructional television that has been systematically designed. (Contains 24 references.) (SWC)

This study investigated the effects of interface tools and learner cognitive styles on performance in searches for information within a hypermedia database. The subjects, 75 students in a university English as a Second Language (ESL) program, were blocked for field dependence and assigned to four treatments which differed by the search tool available. The subjects searched "EarthQuest," a social studies and science hypermedia database, for facts to answer practice and posttest questions on science topics. Field-independent subjects had significantly better achievement than field-dependent subjects in both the index/find and map treatments but not in the browser or all tools treatments. The active engagement, transfer of concepts to new contexts, and high information processing demands that accompany effective use of the index, find, and map tools may explain the greater achievement by field independents. The interface design and instructional use of hypermedia databases should reflect the range of cognitive styles of users. (Contains 20 references.) (Author/JLB)