A meta-analysis of findings from twenty-four controlled evaluations showed that computer-based education (CBE) usually has positive effects on adult learners. CBE raised the examination scores of such students by 0.42 standard deviations in the average study—a moderate-size but statistically significant effect. Two study features appeared to be related to the size of achievement effect reported in the studies: type of use of CBE and publication source for the studies. CBE also reduced substantially the amount of time needed for instruction. Reliable conclusions could not be reached about affective or long-term cognitive effects of CBE because of the small number of studies that investigated such effects.
This meta-analytic synthesis of findings from 60 evaluation studies showed that special college programs for high-risk students have had basically positive effects on students. High-risk students who enrolled in such programs stayed in college somewhat longer than control students did, and they received somewhat better grades in regular college work. Although such program effects were statistically reliable, they were fairly small in size in the typical study. Size of effect varied, however, as a function of the type and the age of the program being evaluated. Size of effect was also a function of document type; effects reported in clearinghouse documents were smaller than those in published articles and dissertations.
This study concerned the meaning of cooperation and competition, and the orientations of Japanese students toward cooperative and competitive school activities. First, a sample of 102 teachers generated 871 items that described a wide variety of academic and nonacademic activities and pupil behaviors. Every student (Grades 7 through 12) at a secondary school complex then rated 24 of these competitive and cooperative items in terms of personal importance during three consecutive academic years (N = 720 in Year 1). Factor analyses of the ratings revealed one general cooperation factor and three competition factors: nonacademic, academic, and group centered. Scores on all four composite indexes varied according to students' grade level and/or cohort membership. Females had higher scores than males on the Cooperation composite index, but there was little gender variation on the three Competition indexes. These data show that the development of cooperativeness and competitiveness should be studied longitudinally, and in both academic and nonacademic contexts. The results are discussed in terms of societal values, the experiences of adolescents, and the implicit curricula of Japanese secondary schools.
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