The Relative Effectiveness of Individualized and Traditional Instruction Methods1

Abstract

195 students were divided into two sections in an undergraduate course. One of the sections received instruction under the traditional lecture-examination format. The other received individualized instruction which included behavioral objectives, a unit approach, unit mastery requirements, and self-pacing. The unit completion activities for the individualized group involved the writing of short papers. The instructors, class meetings, readings, and examinations were identical for both groups. The performance of the two groups was compared through the use of multiple-choice, short answer, and essay examinations. The results revealed that the individualized group performed better on the essay exam and the traditional group performed better on the multiple-choice exams. Students in the individualized group reported the course to produce more learning, to be more work, more flexible, equal in difficulty, and more accurate in grading than students in the traditional section reported it to be. It was concluded that students under individualized instruction view their course more favorably than students under traditional instruction, but that individualized instruction produces superior performance to traditional instruction only when the unit completion activities of the individualized section are similar to the behaviors required on the examination instruments.