The sequence of conceptual information in instruction and its effect on retention

Two experiments were carried out to study the effect of the sequencing of the information in an instructional program. In both experiments, two different ordering principles were used. These principles were based on the relation between the to be learned concepts. The ordering of the information could be successive or simultaneous. The relationship between concepts is categorized either successive or coordinate. It was hypothesized that a simultaneous presentation would show better learning results than a successive presentation if between the to-be-learned concepts exists a co-ordinate relationship. A successive presentation would lead to better results in case of a successive relationship. Results suggest that the definition of both types of relationships needs refinement. Further the results show that for coordinate related concepts a simultaneous presentation is preferable

The effect of the superordinate concept and presentation form of examples on concept learning

In the research reported here, the effects of the presentation of the more general (superordinate) concept on the attainment of basic concepts, and the effects of two different forms of example presentation on concept learning were studied. In one condition, examples were presented as line drawings on a microcomputer monitor. In the other condition the example was presented ‘real life’ on a video monitor. It was found that presenting the superordinate concept reduced the time needed to study new information. However, it had no effect on the retention test classification scores. The realistic, interactive video presentation of examples led to better classification scores on the retention test. This study shows that computer based instruction in combination with interactive video are useful instructional means