The effect of curriculum organization on the acquisition of abstract declarative knowledge in computer-based instructions

作     者：Al-Foraih, Saleh Williams, Kent 

作者机构：King Abdulaziz Mil Acad Riyadh Saudi Arabia Univ Cent Florida Orlando FL 32816 USA 

出 版 物：《JOURNAL OF COMPUTERS IN EDUCATION》 

年 卷 期：2015年第2卷第3期

页      面：283-299页

学科分类：0401[教育学-教育学] 04[教育学] 

主　　题：Abstract knowledge Computer-based instruction Hierarchical knowledge organization Graphical knowledge representation 

摘      要：The United States of America has dropped behind many countries in terms of the Science and Engineering university degrees awarded since the beginning of the nineties. Multiple studies have been conducted to determine the cause of this decline in degrees awarded in order to reverse the trend in US education. The goal of these studies was to determine the proper instructional methods that facilitate the knowledge acquisition process for the student. It has been determined that no one method works for all types of curriculum, for example, methods that have been found to work effectively in curriculum that teaches procedures and physical systems often fail in curriculum that teaches abstract and conceptual content. The purpose of this study is to design an instructional method that facilitates the teaching of abstract knowledge in the Industrial Engineering curriculum, and to demonstrate its effectiveness through empirical research. An experiment including 72 undergraduate students was conducted to determine the best method of acquiring abstract knowledge. All students were presented with the same abstract knowledge but presented in different types of organization. These organization types consisted of a bottom-up moving from specific to general information, a top-down moving from general to more specific information, and Unorganized random presentation of topics. Another factor that was also introduced is graphing, which is a method that is believe to improve the learning process. The experiment was completed in 8 weeks and data were gathered and analyzed. The results strongly suggest that abstract knowledge acquisition, as it relates to Industrial Engineering concepts, is greatly improved when the knowledge is presented in a bottom-up hierarchical fashion. On the other hand, neither graphing nor the top-down or unorganized conditions affect learning in these novice students. The understanding of what facilitate learning is very critical to how best to deliver content