Effects of Orienting Activities and Instructional Control on Learning Facts and Procedures from Interactive Video

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of orienting activities and locus of instructional control on the learning of factual and procedural knowledge via interactive video. Specifically, the interaction between three levels of instructional control (linear, mixed and learner) and two levels of orienting (orienting versus no orienting) was investigated. It was hypothesized that the provision of an orienting activity would show a greater impact on learning for the learner control condition than for the mixed control and linear control conditions. Subjects consisted of ninety-one university students majoring in either biology, chemistry or exercise science. The dependent variables were recall of facts, recall of procedures, and instructional time.

The results did not support the predicted interaction between orienting activity and instructional locus of control. It was found that provision of the orienting activity significantly facilitated the recall of factual information from the lesson. Both linear and mixed control treatments were significantly superior to the learner control. No significant effects were found for the recall of procedural information. Analysis of the time variable showed that subjects provided with the orienting activity spent significantly more time with the program than those who did not have this activity.