Effects of Individual Undergraduate Instruction on Cognition and Attitudes

Abstract

Educational practioners generally accept the concept that individualized instruction is beneficial for most students (2, 4, 7). In elementary and secondary classes various types of individualization are common (3). In col leges and universities modular, individualized, and inde pendent approaches are being used with growing fre quency in regular programs (14, 11) and in inservice pro grams (1). The major flea in our collective ear is the lack of research on the efficacy of individualized programs at the post-secondary level (4). We have not yet ascer tained whether comparatively mature students with rela tively high-level traditional skills (reading, listening, writing) really benefit from an individualized, varied approach to learning. Thus, we do not know the answers to such questions as: (1) Is individual instruction really better than traditional classroom instruction for post secondary students, and (2) is one kind of individual instruction better than another? In response to the former question, it is possible that individual instruction has a greater impact at the college level than traditional instruction. In large-scale studies at Antioch College (6) and the University of Colorado (9) researchers found that the amount of time students spent in the traditional classroom could be reduced by two-thirds or more with out affecting student achievement in the course. Going even further, Dubin and Taveggia (8) found that the eli mination of typical classroom activities such as lecture and discussion did not significantly alter student achieve ment. Reviewing studies conducted from 1924 to 1965, they concluded that college students learned as much from unsupervised independent study as they did from more traditional methods of instruction. Evidence regarding student attitudes toward conven tional instruction and one type of individualized instruc