Progressive Comparison of the Effects of Computer-Assisted Instruction on the Academic Achievement of Secondary Students

Abstract

This study employed a meta-analytic technique to compare the academic achievement during a 12-year period of secondary students across a broad latitude of academic areas who were instructed through traditional methodology, traditional methodology supplemented with computer-assisted instruction (CAI), or CAI alone. Moreover, the study compared more recent with earlier research findings. An overall mean effect size of 0.187 was calculated, indicating that, on the average, students receiving traditional instruction supplemented with CAI attained higher academic achievement than did 57.2% of those receiving only traditional instruction. However, a –0.762 correlation between effect size and years indicates that the effect of CAI on academic achievement has declined during this period.